[z12358]

Not claiming it's true, but it's conceivable that big players with an agenda can affect prices in a free-market. Big oil producing countries can time the supply of crude oil, while big oil corporations can time both the demand for crude oil and the supply of unleaded gas. Now imagine some hypothetical guy with some stakes in the elections calling some of his big oil friends (countries and corporations) and suggesting that a slightly arranged timing of increased supply (lower prices) would be very, very helpful before Nov 7. Tough to prove but quite conceivable. Crude is well below its Nov 7 level while Unleaded Gas is well above it, suggesting that the corporations (users of crude, producers of gas) would have done the heavy lifting on this one.

Z.