Behavioural finance?

I don't get today's oil prices. As we speak, oil is trading at 1.58 below close, at 99.60, a 6-month low, the day after hurricane Ike hits Texas, the United States' largest oil production centre. This happens the same weekend of Lehman's impending collapse and the renewed fears of the US credit market. This is an excerpt swiped from Reuters. I'll just quote pertinent bits so I don't get sued for any sort of infringement.

On oil
"The oil market is selling off because the early indications show Ike didn't do as much damage as feared," said Chris Jarvis, senior analyst at Caprock Risk Management. "That said, this sell-off could prove to be a bit premature, since it could be a while before things get back to normal."

On financial
U.S. stock futures and the dollar sank late on Sunday as the first official trades of a new business week took place while talks to sell Lehman Brothers <LEH.N> faltered, shaking confidence and pushing dollar-exposed investors towards safe haven U.S. Treasuries.
"It appears that Lehman will file for bankruptcy and the risk of an immediate tsunami is related to the unwind of derivative and swap-related positions worldwide in the dealer, hedge fund, and buyside universe," Bill Gross, the chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co (Pimco), told Reuters. Pimco oversees more than $812 billion in assets.
Uncertainty about the health of the U.S. financial sector was running high with the fate of the 158-year old investment bank Lehman Brothers still unclear. In addition, a takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co <MER.N> and huge asset sales by American International Group <AIG.N> were being talked about in markets.
Britain's Barclays Plc <BARC.L>, which had appeared to be the frontrunner to take over Lehman -- excluding its bad mortgage-related assets -- pulled out of the bidding early in the afternoon, according to a person familiar with the matter.
That raised the risk of a Lehman bankruptcy. Lehman hired law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges to prepare a potential bankruptcy filing, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday in its online edition, citing a person familiar with the matter.

I think the only explanation that would make sense for the crude to be this way is demand destruction. Either on the refinery side, or the consumption side. There seems to be no other explanation.

Mensa Invitational

This is arguably one of the funniest emails I have received, ever!

The results of the Washington Post's Mensa Invitational which once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply ing a new definition.   The winners  are:
 
1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.
2. Ignoranus : A person who's both stupid and an asshole.
3. Intaxication : Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.
4. Reintarnation : Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
5. Bozone ( n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
6. Foreploy : Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
7. Giraffiti : Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
8. Sarchasm : The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the Person who doesn't get it.
9. Inoculatte : To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
10. Osteopornosis : A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
11. Karmageddon : It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
12. Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
13. Glibido : All talk and no action.
14. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
15. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
16. Beelzebug (n.) : Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
17. Caterpallor ( n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.
 
 
The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words. And the winners are:
 
1. Coffee , n. The person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted , adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.
3. Abdicate , v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade , v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly , adj. Impotent.
6. Negligent , adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.
7. Lymph , v. To walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle , n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence , n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash , n. A rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle , n. A humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude , n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon , n. A Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster , n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism , n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent , n . An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men
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