LESSON TEN: Salt of the Earth

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GIVE IT A SHOT: Dallas (1978–1991) ushered in, or “gushered” in, the genre of the primetime soap opera and popularized the cliffhanger ending to each season. You can buy the entire collection of fourteen seasons and three reunion movies for about $170. Too rich for your blood? Settle for an official “I Shot JR” tee shirt celebrating the episode that defined cliffhangers. Available at  for less than the cost of a barrel of oil. At least today. 

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HAVE A GREAT DAY: I may have to rename History 301, a tribute to Daniel Day Lewis. After recommending his turn as Abraham Lincoln, I now urge you to consider another of his Oscar winning performances. There Will be Blood (2007) is billed as “a story of family, religion, hatred, oil, and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.” That might sound familiar, though the screenplay is adapted from an Upton Sinclair novel set in Southern California. One notices that there are more than a few half-crazed oil speculators in the world about whom to write 

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BE CRUDE: Make as much money as you possibly can while speculating in the crude oil market for the next ten years without getting off your couch. Try the Oil Trader simulation at:  Borrow money to get started and hopefully pay it back when your bets on where the cycle is heading pay off. As Pattillo Higgins can attest, sometimes they don’t pay off. Then the bank will come calling, and if you don’t have cash to pay interest on your loans, it is game over. But just like Higgins, after a quick refresh you can start again and be back at it in no time. 

Oil Trader

Peter J Wilcoxen > Simulation Games > Oil Trader Instructions

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GO CYCLING: Investopedia has a quick recap of discretionary, non-durable stocks, also known as cyclicals. The website’s take is that there are some upsides to cyclicals but forecasting and market timing are hard. You can’t say I haven’t (repeat- edly) warned you. 

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GET LOST: If you find yourself traveling near, Pithole City, Pennsylvania, your mapping app is probably on the fritz. Nevertheless, take some time to visit the spot where the petroleum industry got its start, nearby at Titusville and Drake’s Well, the world’s first commercial oil rig. Pithole City is the town that grew up with the Pennsylvania oil country in the 1860s when hundreds of barrels bubbled to the surface and sold for $8 apiece. More wells and more oil followed with a predictable outcome. Oil prices plummeted, people went broke and the town failed. Today it is a ghost town and a reminder of the cycle of boom and bust. Perhaps Pithole residents relocated up the road to Pleasantville. Wouldn’t you? 

Drake Well Museum and Park

Drake Well Museum and Park uses films, exhibits, oil field machinery, and historic buildings to tell the story of the petroleum industry's birth in PA.

Historic Pithole City | Drake Well Museum

The site was given to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in the 1960s. A visitor center was built and today it houses a scale model of the once booming city along with artifact exhibits and an informational film area. There are also tours of the grounds available like the very popular and ever ghostly Lantern Tour.