Swoon and Wilt Take On a Whole New Meaning
I guess it depends upon how badly you want to flog the lack of actual news. But it occasionally becomes comic and one can only wonder who edits AP.
An Associated Press article about today’s action in the stock markets is titled “Stocks Make Some Gains as Oil Prices Swoon.” A few paragraphs down they opt on “oil prices wilted from last week's record highs, falling more than $1 a barrel in mid-afternoon trading.”
That’s pretty strong stuff for a measly single-buck drop on $66. When was the last time you described a six-tenths of one percent movement in the price of a commodity as a swoon or a wilt?
But it’s interesting, this oil-price thing, as a barometer of what might have been under slightly altered circumstances. I remember $2 a barrel oil, but then I remember 22 cent Lucky Strikes as well. If you live long enough almost anything in memory has changed significantly, most of them for the better. Here in Europe where I live, it’s nothing new to plunk fifty bucks into the tank of my …