Sharply rising oil quotes sapped the bull’s vigor yesterday, turning what began as a promising day into yet another exercise in tedium. We were prepared to pounce on the Russell mini-contract regardless of whether it went higher or lower, and although it did both during the course of the day, the trading range was too narrow to get us long or short.

For hard-core investors, oil’s $2 surge was the big news, but Michael Jackson’s acquittal overshadowed energy-sector worries and just about all else in the evening wrap-ups. One hesitates to ascribe to the Jackson jury the same sort of pathological biases that set O.J. free, and the jurors who were interviewed after the trial seemed convinced they’d decided the case on its merits.  

Less Hubris

Meanwhile, Jackson’s camp showed little of the hubris that forever tainted O.J.’s victory lap, perhaps deferring to a public that senses Jackson may not have been entirely blameless. In the end, it would appear, the apparent opportunism of the alleged victim’s mother didn't help the prosecution's case, nor did the conspiracy charge that brought her behavior to light.

That said, I thought Jackson would do at least some time. I don’t know what Vegas odds makers were expecting, but the acquittal surely fooled the legal experts who held forth daily on the evening news. None that I can recall predicted Jacko would walk, and some thought he’d do at least 5-7 years, even without a conviction on the conspiracy charge. The L.A. prosecutor will think twice before bringing charges against Jackson again, but one wonders whether the entertainer will be able to stay out of scandal’s reach for long.