In the mid-1980s, I (vicariously) witnessed an investment lesson that has stuck with me. In 1985, I had taken a job as a petroleum engineer with a relatively small but aggressive oil and gas company. This company was publicly traded, and its stock was offered as an option in the company’s retirement plan.
Price of Oil Getting Political in LouisianaWhile oil prices,
and predictions about where they’re going, don’t paint a pretty picture
for the state of Louisiana, we’re unlikely to see a true and complete
portrait of their effect on the current fiscal year budget until the
next governor is sworn in.
The lingering downturn in oil prices has companies consolidating,
workers being laid off, skilled employees leaving and industry leaders
painfully recalling the mid-1980s.