FOX News Guest Predicts Gas Will Go to $4.00 a Gallon by January, Claims Israel Will Bomb Iran
Reported by Marie Therese - November 28, 2006 -
On Saturday, the panel on Cashin' In discussed a startling prediction made by guest Todd Schoenberger, Chief Market Strategist for Taipan Financial News (TFN) and Executive Editor of that company's Diligent Investor financial advice newsletter. Shoenberger said, " ... [Four] dollars-plus a gallon by January and here's why. It's based on geopolitical concerns coming out of the Middle East. The Iranians right now are talking about having this nuclear device by the end of March. If that's the case - and also you have Hezbollah looking to take over the Lebanese government - if that's the case the Israelis have to defend themselves. I'm looking for a violent conflict to break out by January, therefore higher oil prices. It's gonna be bad. It's gonna be bad."
The rest of the business analysts included regulars Wayne Rogers, Jonathan Koenig, Jonas Max Ferris, Gary Kaltbaum and FOX News Senior Business Correspondent Terry Keenan. Another guest analyst, Sara Nunnally, was listed only with the words "Material Profits" under her name in the lower banner. "Material Profits" is also a subsidiary enterprise of the Taipan Financial News. She and Schoenberger have appeared together in an investment advice video on at least one occasion. FOX News at no time indicated that Schoenberger and Nunnally had a prior existing business connection or that they were both working for TFN.
Sara Nunnally dismissed the idea that oil could go up that quickly in less than two months. Gary Kaltbaum agreed with her, stating that "demand has slowed down across the world, economies are slowing down. I know about terrorism but that's been out there for so long. No shock." Jonathan Koenig claimed that it's the weak dollar not oil prices that offer commodities brokers the best possibilities in the coming months . Terry Keenan chimed in that a lower dollar would in essence raise the cost of a barrel of crude. Wayne Rogers noted that Schoenberger had left out the whole issue of home heating oil, demand for which is down due to the warmer winter.
Jonas Max Ferris pointed out that oil inventories last week were" higher than expected", oil prices had dropped significantly and predicted that oil would be at $40 a barrel next year. "Demand is falling, the economy's slowing, the consumer has given up," said Ferris.
Schoenberger rebutted by noting that during last summer's Israeli attack on Lebanon, gas went to over $3.00 a gallon. "That's going to happen again," said Schoenberger. "And next time it's going to be catastrophic ..."
Kaltbaum disagreed once again stating that "the back has been broken for oil."
Sara Nunnally said that she "liked Todd's scenario" but didn't see the price escalating by January. This remark was so outrageous that an incredulous Jonas Max Ferris asked "How do you 'like' the global nuclear scenario? That's not a great scenario!" Nunnally quickly retrenched, and tried to explain away her ill-chosen words.
Schoenberger said "The world consumes 85 million barrels of oil a day, yet we only pump 86 million out of the ground each day. Any type of conflict, any type of slowdown from the fourth largest exporter of oil [Iran] on the planet is going to cause prices to go up." Ferris responded "But any slowdown from the biggest consumer of oil - America - is gonna cause them to go down, just by the same logic."
Wayne Rogers summed it up pretty well: "Todd's whole premise is predicated upon some conflagration breaking out. ... I once took a course in mind-reading but I failed. You know, I don't know how he knows that there's going to be a conflagration. He should be at the State Department and the Pentagon telling them all of this ... Sure. If it happens, then oil will go up, but who knows if it's going to happen?"
Ferris asked how Iran could afford to build a nuclear device if it doesn't sell oil. The panel agreed that there has been a lot of money already stockpiled by Middle Eastern countries.
Gary Kaltbaum ended the segment by saying "Wall Street is littered with predictions like this that do not come to fruition. ... I just think George Bush and John Kerry will have tea and crumpets before we see ... gas prices at $4.00 a gallon."
COMMENT
In a post I wrote on May 16, 2006 I reported on a comment made by Mike Wittner, representative of the large French firm CALYON stating that his company is convinced that George Bush will invade Iran sometime in 2007. Since then there have been sporadic reports that Iran itself believes that it will be attacked from the air by either the USA or Israel. FOX News hosts and/or guests consistently call for the bombing of Iran, flying in the face of common sense and the almost total opposition of the rest of the world, including Great Britain.
FOX News regularly books rabid Christian end-of-the-worlders under the title of "Middle East expert" (Mike Evans, Brigitte Gabriel, Walid Shoebat. Mike Hitchcock, et al) and allows them to push their crackpot religious beliefs as if they were "mainstream" commentators. These people consistently push for either the United States for Israel to bomb Iran, leaving FOX viewers with the impression that there is a lot of support among the community of experts when, in fact, the exact opposite is the truth.
