We’re frankly sick of trying to work out who or what is responsible for high crude oil prices. Whether it’s supply-and-demand imbalance in the markets, as Dave Gonigam argues, or nasty speculators artificially inflating prices, as Andrew Gordan says, we don’t know.

What we can say is that oil is still sky high at $139 a barrel.

Shock Market Trader editor Mike Burnick says there could be a painful correction around the corner. If there is, there’s one sub-sector of the energy industry that would actually benefit big time from such an oil correction: refiners…

Editor’s Note: The Fed and the ECB have taken up opposing positions in the current economic battle, says Mike Burnick. Bernanke & Co have chosen to protect economic growth from the threat of tumbling asset prices. In Brussels, the priority is controlling inflation. This is bad for the dollar, says Mike, which will drive commodity prices higher still. There is no pain-free solution, he adds.

Editor’s Note: Crude oil prices are still above $140 a barrel, and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has told us all to get used to high prices. But Mike Burnick — senior analyst at The Sovereign Society — says the black goo is ‘pretty cheap.’ When you compare it to other products consumed heavily by Americans, oil actually seems pretty good value.

A “new wave” of the credit crisis is now battering banks and lenders that steered clear of toxic subprime-related loans, says The Washington Post.

Late payments on home-equity loans are at a record high, and delinquency rates on loans for cars, small businesses and construction are at levels not seen in a decade or more — all bad news for lenders, regardless of their subprime exposure.

Of course, the bad news isn’t limited to the financial sector. Mike Burnick in the Offshore A-Letter warns of that a triple whammy of deflation, inflation, stagflation is also threatening the global economy…

The “official” inflation rate in the U.S. jumped 4.2% in the 12 months to May. That’s the fastest rate of price increases in more than 10-years - mainly due to… you guessed it: soaring food and fuel prices.