Recently, the stock market has been very unstable. After a period of extremely good
             business and market highs, it seems we are experiencing just the opposite. The market has
             become increasingly unsure and risky, even with well known companies.
             I believe the shift in the stock market is based partly with the oil crisis caused by
             OPEC and partly with constant bad reports presented by companies. Maybe if assessment
             firms gave good reports more often than bad ones, the market would go up. The market is
             such a roller coaster now that it is virtually impossible to predict even the most
             trustworthy stocks like Wal-Mart or Yahoo!.
             For instance, the technology company Sony, which just released a new video game
             system, has dropped like a rock on the market. In three days, their stock dropped over six
             points. Considering they have a brand new, highly recommended gaming system, shouldn’t
             their stock be going up? They claim to have under-shipped, but what kind of excuse is
             that? The public knows that a large and powerful company like Sony has the resources to
             ship however many products are needed.
             Most importantly, though, is the Mideast Oil Crisis. OPEC is screwing up our
             nations economy on purpose! Yet, we let them do whatever they want with their oil. We
             should be tapping our own resources, to help ourselves and our market. Without power,
             how can the stock market, or even the entire economy, function properly at all? All the
             extra revenue from gas prices either goes to the government or to Mideast countries.
             Private companies do not benefit and therefore our economy drops.
             In closing, I believe our national market should always be on the rise. This would
             show that we, indeed, have a well-functioning society. However, we continually stand by
             and allow domestic and foreign governments to control our economy.
             “Nasdaq’s loss third biggest” Beaumont Enterprise
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