The news that the U.S. will stop adding oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve draws a barbed comment from Bob Howard, who writes the Positive Patterns investment newsletter from Turners, Mo. He doesn’t think the decision will make much difference to world oil prices, but he points out that the nation now has a very valuable asset in those Louisiana salt caverns:

Maybe the best hedge-fund manager of this decade is (drum roll please) G.W. Bush? Well, see here sonny, how many of those barrrels of awl have we bought? (We waited till that baby was 95% full before pulling the plug, eh?) Do they hedge this deal? Sitting over there, what’s the average price we paid for that awl? Somebody tole’ me it is in the $50’s. Now, if we could just find somebody to do a block trade. Hmm. It looks like GW’s awl/reserve trade is about $300 billeeyun to the good.

Yes, he really writes that way, but Howard is no hillbilly. He has been recommending energy stocks for years and has made a lot of money for his clients.