Crude Bedfellows: How the Insiders Set-Up, Started and Finished a Bull Market Run in Crude Oil.

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Summary: Amazing view from an oil trader's perspective
Review: A nicely written story that interprets the true oil price movements from right after 9/11 tragedy up to crude oil's October 2004 prices. It is quite interesting the way the writer, an oil trader, shows to the lay person the potential for world events to be used and caused by oil prices. A wonderful little book. The politics may make some folks uncomfortable given the current climate in the country.

Rating:
Summary: If the shoe fits....Ouch!
Review: CRUDE BEDFELLOWS is a short, terse, concise red flag warning about the ins and outs of the effect of the market on government - and vice versa. Author Sean Hewitt is a commodities trader with in-depth experience in such pertinent areas as crude oil trading. Given his perspective, this short novel about 'fictional people' is pungent and intelligent and educational while concurrently being a tale of intrigue that blows the lid off the hidden agendas of those who control the stock market and the Big Powers.

The first portion of this book is a brief but very digestible and informative overview of how crude oil trades work, what they mean, how they influence political movements, and how they wield such a mighty hand in today's oil dependent world. Once Hewitt assures his readers that the basic tools of understanding the stock market are in hand, he develops a 'story' that sharply mimics current world conditions. The driver of this fast-paced tale is the fact that the commodities market influences world government, that changes in the movement of crude oil prices actually determine subsequent political events.

Though Hewitt provides a disclaimer as a preface to this book, it is readily apparent that what this fine author has to say is far more pertinent to conditions that the past four years have shown in the conflict and underpinnings of the relationships between Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and the US Government. This book is important food for thought, and invaluable guide to gaining insight into the commodities market, and in the end a very fine read! Grady Harp, January 2005

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Summary: Isn't this illegal??
Review: Sean Hewitt (apparently a pen name) has written a work of fiction based on his years of experience as a Commodities Trader in New York. As he calls this small book a work of fiction, my review will be of the work as fiction. The plot is simple - several amoral types plan a stock market set-up designed to make them millions if not billions. Three of the players are friends from youth (a trader who arranges the investment moves, the President of the US, and his `Chief of Staff'). The fourth is a member of the Saudi Royal family and a friend of the President's family. A "silent" partner with a death wish for the US also plays a role reaping benefits from the manipulation.

Sound familiar? Several of these characters bear an uncanny resemblance to characters in the film Farenheit 911. What is not documented in F911 but found in this book is the detailed financial behind-the-scenes manipulation of futures commodities by people who know what they are doing compared with most people like you and me who if they make money from investments do so because of being in the right place on the right day, i.e. selling just before `they' sell, buying before`they' buy.

The plot of this book is simple and may be based on fact or speculation or both. Your politics will probably persuade you which to believe. These characters are truly the 'One Dimensional' men we were warned about when we received our Liberal Arts degrees. They act but their action involves calculation (hope you like business math) for personal profit. They are superficial. They do not reflect moral issues or care about the consequences of their actions. They are the sum of their experience and it is evil. The outcome is predictable, there is no climax unless you call getting out of the market in time to save your $$ a right move. There is no redemption. They are indeed criminals and CRUDE BEDFELLOWS even if they broke no laws.