There's nothing bizarre about observing the way the "global" oil markets operate, and those manipulated prices have driven the rise in prices in everything else more than any other factor. However I do agree, it's the corporate share and investor profit obsession that drives most factors in higher prices. Don't forget rent prices, driven through the roof when big investors scooped up large portions of the residential housing stock that was distressed and under priced after the real estate crash of '06-'08.