Energy/oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens wants those investors who are expecting oil's price to drop amid an oil supply glut to know they are likely to be on the wrong side of history, and fairly soon.

Pickens Tuesday reiterated his forecast that oil prices will pass $75 per barrel before the end of 2009, and move considerably higher in 2010, CNBC reported.

When Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) spurned Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)'s offer to acquire the company last month, many shareholders were outraged. Carl Icahn has acquired a stake in the company and he's rattling the proxy fight saber. Meanwhile, Yahoo has been sued by a group of shareholders alleging that the company and its officers and directors breached their fiduciary duty in failing to negotiate in good faith with Microsoft.

Court documents unsealed in Delaware Chancery Court appear to be quite damaging to Yahoo's management. The papers show that Yahoo rebuffed a bid of $40 per share from Microsoft in January of 2007. Bloomberg quotes one of the company's more quotable shareholders, T. Boone Pickens: "Whoever's suing the Yahoo management and board of directors, if they had a $40 offer and didn't take it, they're going to want to cut their throats for being that stupid. Anybody who sued them has got a good lawsuit, I'd say. I'd hate to be on that board of directors right now.''

The shareholder lawsuit alleges that the company's CEO, Jerry Yang used his power "to delay, to refuse to negotiate in good faith and to erect roadblocks."

The complaint alleges that Yang ignored the counsel of compensation consultants in structuring change of control terms for employees, in a deliberate effort to make an acquisition difficult.

If all of this is true, Yang has got to go as Yahoo CEO. Even if it isn't true, the company's performance in recent years is pretty compelling evidence that change is needed. He is probably the number one CEO on the hot seat right now

Ever wonder why conventional wisdom is so conventional? It's because it's the same people repeating it over and over.

The reason why this happens is mostly laziness. Reporters and TV producers call on the same people to render their opinions because they are the ones who return calls and show up when they are needed. I have done it myself so I know the drill well. Yes, Woody Allen's claim that 80% of success is showing up continues to be proven right. These people can be summed up in several categories: wisemen -- they almost always are male -- whose every utterance is treated as if it was etched in stone tablets by the almighty, and insta-pundits -- who are able to give quotes on every topic imaginable. Finally, there are the personal finance gurus whose message is that by helping me make money, I can help you save money.

Below are my choices for the most overexposed business pundits and media personalities. They are in no particular order.

Wisemen: Alan Greenspan -- Don't you miss the days when no one understood what the former Fed Chairman was talking about? Now, his message is pretty clear: buy my book and the subprime mortgage crisis was not my fault. Honorable mentions: former General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Chief Executive Jack Welch, billionaire George Soros, and oilman Boone Pickens.

Oil rocketed through $129 early Tuesday after billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens said oil may hit $150 per barrel in 2008 due to falling oil supplies, and that speculators have nothing to do with record oil prices, CNBC reported Tuesday.

Pickens, founder and chairman of BP Capital LLC, said that global oil supply is not keeping up with demand. His view is in stark contrast to OPEC's. The cartel has repeatedly blamed speculators, the falling dollar and geopolitical tensions for oil's astounding increase and record-high price. Oil has risen about 100% in 12 months and is up 486% since 2002.

Oil rose $2.34 to $129.31 per barrel -- an all-time record -- in early Tuesday trading before easing slightly to $128.82.

Jim Dietz, independent energy trader, told BloggingStocks Tuesday T. Boone Pickens's perspective on oil wasn't the only factor in oil's rise to $129, but added that it doesn't take much to get oil moving in its recent, vertical direction.

The saga of oil in the initial decade of the globalization era continues.

Billionaire energy investor and oil guru T. Boone Pickens Thursday said he has reversed his short position and is now buying oil and he expects the world's most important commodity to hit $125 per barrel, Bloomberg News reported.

``The position is long, not short,'' Pickens told Bloomberg News. ``I covered the short position, it was a mistake on my part. We missed.''

Surging economic growth in emerging markets in Asia and Latin America, along with steady demand in developed markets has increased demand for oil during the last 4 years, and strained oil producers' capabilities to meet that rising demand. Oil is up 82% in the last 12 months and is up an astounding 350% since late 2002. Oil closed Thursday down 7 cents to $114.86 per barrel after hitting a record-high $115.54 earlier in the session.

Bloomberg reporter Katherine Burton's first book, Hedge Hunters: Hedge Fund Masters on the Rewards, the Risk, and the Reckoning, is based on interviews with eighteen of the top hedge fund managers in the world: Michael Steinhardt, Boone Pickens, Jim Chanos and, my personal favorite, Dan Loeb, just to name a few.

The emphasis on the legends may be the book's weakness. All of the managers interviewed are running huge sums of money for institutional investors, and none of these could be characterized as mom-'n'-pop stock-pickin' shops. These firms employ armies of analysts and, with some exceptions, the profiles are repetitive: They look to hire smart people with interesting backgrounds who think independently, etc., etc.

Many of the profiles seem to blend together, and only the interviews with Mr. Chanos and Mr. Loeb could be characterized as truly memorable or insightful. Would-be hedgehogs beware: there is little practical advice here. This is, happily, not a how-to book, and focuses more on the minds and backgrounds of some of the top money managers in the world.

If you idolize guys like Loeb and Chanos, this is probably a book you'll want to pick up. But the vast majority of investors would do just as well skipping this one.

Boone Pickens insists that oil has to go to $70 a barrel this year. The supply is simply going to get too tight. Of course, a number of experts disagree with Pickens arguing the the technology for extracting oil is getting better.

If Wall Street accepts Pickens case, the stocks in Exxon (NYSE:XOM), Conoco (NYSE:COP), and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) are headed back up. When oil spiked over $70, all three stocks took a nice ride into August of last year. As oil moved back under $60 in the Fall, all three stock retreated. With oil moving up again the stocks have moved back near their highs. Before last week's big sell-off, Exxon hit $75, very near a multiple year high. If oil goes over $70, it is not hard to see the price moving over $80.

Of course, the oil companies may be among the few beneficiaries of rising oil and gas prices. If Pickens is right, the industries that were murdered with the last run up in oil will suffer again. Retailers from Target (NYSE:TGT) to Lowe's (NYSE:LOW) and the big car companies, especially GM (NYSE:GM) and Ford (NYSE:F) who need some help from the economy if their restructurings are going to work.

With the market falling and consumer sentiment on edge, is very bad news unless you own oil shares.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

January's issue of Playboy features a lengthy interview with T. Boone Pickens, the legendary oil tycoon and corporate raider. In it he makes a number of interesting observations. Here are a few:

• Pickens said he does not think we will ever see $50-a-barrel oil again, and believes at some point we will see $100-a-barrel oil
• He is not invested in ethanol, despite his fondness for alternative energy plays, because he does not think it can operate without being heavily subsidized
• He is invested in natural gas, which he believes is the most feasible alternative to oil
• He gave two stock picks -- Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU) and Canadian Oil Sands Trust (TSE: COS.UN) -- both of which he is heavily invested in
• He discussed his investment in water, and although he said it was a worthwhile long-term investment, he clarified that he does not see water as the next oil, as water is a renewable resource and oil is not