18 of 21
BACKNEXT
Rage against oil speculators
Rage against oil speculators
With oil prices skyrocketing toward their $147-a-barrel high in July, people smell a rat. Oil traders, hedge funds, Wall Street types...they're all to blame for artificially inflating the price of crude and reaping huge profits at the expense of drivers everywhere.

Or so the thinking (and Congressional hearings) goes until prices suddenly collapse throughout the fall, bringing oil down to about $37 a barrel. The culprit this time? Softening demand amid a reeling global economy. So much for thinking fundamentals don't matter. -- By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer

What do you think was the year's Dumbest Moment in Business?Join the discussion now.

NEXT: Jobs' 'greatly exaggerated' death
Last updated December 31 2008: 10:36 AM ET
Lamest roadtrip ever The Big 3 CEOs' drive from Detroit to D.C. to request a bailout was classic. More video
How to lose an electionJohn McCain's statements about the economy may have killed his campaign. Morevideo
The ballooning bailout Expanding from three pages to 451, the TARP bill was loaded with pork, eventually resulting in a flip-flop by Paulson. Morevideo

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.