It's true folks. Gartner puts the whammy on big business. But what are they hoarding for? I guess those who can hoard will hoard. Let's see, oil refiners can't hoard, neither can power companies or retail banks in a fractional reserve system, so those guys say there's no problem, nooo problem whatsoever. BUT, as for those brick and mortar dinosaurs, read this: econopaths

URL: http://gartner11.gartnerweb.com/public/static/hotc/hc00081180.html

-- Puddintame (achillesg@hotmail.com), July 30, 1999

Answers

top

-- R (riversoma@aol.com), July 30, 1999.

Inventory costs money and corporations hate to spend money without valid reasons.

It would follow that they are very concerned. Me too.

-- Mike Lang (webflier@erols.com), July 30, 1999.

Puddin'tame, did you invent the word "econopath"?

-- Forrest Covington (theforrest@mindspring.com), July 31, 1999.

Should anticipation of Y2K disruptions lead to hoarding by governments and consumers (companies) of raw materials and finished goods, prices may go up, producers will be happy, and producers may attempt to increase their production to match demand. While Y2K contingency planning seems to include the concept of stockpiling, delta does not seem to have been achieved... not anything that would be reflected in international trade. In fact, a serious lack of stockpiling seems to be reflected by current projections of the prices of raw materials for the coming months. Of course, this is just my humble opinion.

Sincerely, Stan Faryna

-- Stan Faryna (info@giglobal.com), July 31, 1999.

And consumer spending went DOWN last report. Go figure.

-- FLAME AWAY (BLehman202@aol.com), July 31, 1999.

I don't know where I picked it up(some online nutbag),but I think it's a great tagline..... mohawked ex-yuppies will steal your food and rape your ass for not trying harder to make them "get it" when you had the chance!

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), July 31, 1999.

Oil companies can and will hoard some oil this year. Look for storage (what's left of it out there) to get real tight as we head into Nov, and Dec. Also, VLCC rates will most probably pop in Sep-Oct as parties begin lining up an armada of "floating storage". While I think some will be hesitant to make the move due to economic constraints, I think the majority will be won over by the overridding concern of crude supply.

You see THE most important thing for a refinery is having a STEADY supply of crude oil. Imagine if you will a paper mill without trees? A farm without seeds? Well, you get the picture.

I think we're already witnessing the physical tightening. Crude has hit levels that it hasn't seen in eons. And seems to be staying remarkably firm. That kind of firmness can be only one thing, fundamental tightness. Hang on America, things gonna get weird for a while.

-- Gordon (g_gecko_69@hotmail.com), July 31, 1999.

While some of the tone of the Gartner article appears to be antagonistic toward stockpiling, the meat of the article seems to me to be a matter of fact caution regarding various gotchas that may not immediately occur to some company managements that are considering stockpiling.

Perhaps the kindly folks at Gartner would rent consultants to companies needing more detailed advice on the subject? :-)

Jerry

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), July 31, 1999.