Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Wilbur Ross: Run-Up in Oil Prices Is a Bubble

As we said in "Billionaire to rescue of crisis-hit US insurer (ABK)":
If you are running a mismanaged monoline insurer you DO NOT want this man pulling into the parking lot. His presence means the jig's up and you're buffing that résumé. He is a VERY serious dude.

Mr Ross deals in a corner of the business world that, more than most, demands clear thinking. Yesterday he was interviewed on CNBC:
The dramatic rise in oil prices is a bubble, famous turnaround investor Wilbur Ross told CNBC Monday, noting that there is no apparent supply problem with crude.

While discussing his investment strategies for the second half of the year, Ross touched on his outlook for commodities.

"Remember when oil went to $70 a barrel in the so-called 'Arab Oil Crisis,' there was a shortage. There were lines at gas stations, talking about rationing. There isn't a line at any gas station gas station anywhere in the world, so there's clearly not a physical shortage," he said....MORE

Here's another link to a CNBC story, where he very politely said that Warren Buffet was talking his book. It turned out Wilbur nailed it, Warren was being an insurance guy from Omaha, albeit on a larger scale than most, talking about insuring $800 Bil. worth of munis.

Here's your correspondent being silly:

FT Alphaville has a different take on the hot new boy-band:
Wilbur & The Monolines.