NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - As the OPEC bigwigs assemble in Iran to decide the fate of the global oil market for the next few months -- and therefore the fate of the rest of us car-driving schmoes at the pump, more and more talk about us swirling about a bubble.

The idea is that maybe hot money looking to maker a quick buck rather than the "fundamentals" of supply and demand is what has once again pushed oil to near record highs over 55 bucks a barrel.

Well, duh!

Stocks are going nowhere and bonds are moving lower in price. Add to that the latest move down in the dollar. Naturally money will spurt out of financial assets into commodities especially oil. (And that's what I have heard from trader types in New York and Chicago).

Why this matters is that if it really is speculators goosing the oil market at some point something will happen to force their hands. And as they exit the market in droves the price could once again come tumbling lower.

One of the smarter oil guys I know still doesn't see oil below $35 to $40 a barrel, and he thinks a pullback just sets us up for a run back up to the highs. Absent a nasty global recession and a big drop in demand the expensive new world of higher oil and gas prices may be here to stay.

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-- Kathleen Hays is economics correspondent for CNN and contributes to Lou Dobbs Tonight.