Crude Oil: with all the smart guys predicting a bursting bubble in prices you can bet the farm that it won't happen. The bubble will burst--maybe--when the smart guys are all saying it's going higher. BTW the cheapest gasoline in SoCal just topped $4 per.

Demand (consumption) in the U.S. is off big time yet crude prices keep rising. Why? Because it's governments and not oil companies that control the price and until their tankers are floating with full and unloadable supplies in ports like New Orleans and Galveston nothing can happen. In addition many governments subsidize their population's thirst for cheap gasoline. This can't go on forever but forever is a long long time.