Category:

Fuel demand stabilises in the United States: Kemp

LONDON The initial consumption stimulus from lower oil prices may be fading, at least in the United States, according to the latest round of official data on traffic volumes and fuel sales. Traffic on California’s highway network was 2.6 percent higher in May than a year earlier, the state transportation department said. Growth was the same as April’s but lower than in March and February, and not much different from the long-term average of 2.5 percent. In Texas, sales of gasoline and diesel were up 2 percent in April and March compared with the same months the prior year, a far smaller increase than at the end of 2014 and start of 2015, according to the state comptroller. Nationwide gasoline consumption is running 300,000 barrels per day higher than last year, data from the Energy Information Administration shows, but the year-on-year gains have stabilized in the last three months. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. Rails Skid Into Bear Market on Triple Whammy Cargo Slump

U.S. railroads, Wall Street favorites for much of the past decade, are slumping into a bear market amid a three-way squeeze from plunging coal, crude-oil and grain shipments. An index of the four largest publicly traded U.S. carriers has dropped 20 percent from its peak in November, paced by Kansas City Southern, as the companies struggle to offset the loss of volumes. They haven’t tumbled this much since 2011. Those difficulties are likely to drag on, leading to the first annual industrywide earnings decline since 2009, as low natural gas prices sap coal demand, U.S. oil drilling slows and harvests return to normal after a record crop. That threatens to crimp a rally that made the group one of the top performers in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. “It’s going to be a tough year,” David Vernon, a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst, said in a telephone […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Greece Weighs on Global Markets

Photo The Nikkei 225 ended 2.9 percent lower on Monday, its weakest close since June 19. Credit Thomas Peter/Reuters PARIS — Stocks fell sharply in Europe and Asia on Monday, and markets in New York appeared headed for a slump at the opening bell, as Greece’s financial difficulties spread worries about possible broader harm to the global financial system, and Chinese investors endured another topsy-turvy session. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chips fell 4.6 percent shortly after the opening and by midmorning was still off 3.5 percent. The FTSE-100 index in London dropped 2.2 percent to start, moving to 1.56 percent lower by midmorning. In Greece, b anks and markets are closed until July 6, after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras interrupted last-ditch debt negotiations early Saturday with the announcement that he was calling a referendum for July 5 on whether to accept the tough terms offered […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Greece Orders Banks Closed, Imposes Capital Controls to Stem Deposit Flight

ATHENS—Greece shut down its banking system, ordering lenders to stay closed for six days starting Monday, and its central bank moved to impose controls to prevent money from flooding out of the country. The steps, a fateful climax to five years of debt crisis, put Greece closer than it ever has been to an exit from the euro and pushes the common currency itself into uncharted waters. The decision came after the European Central Bank—meeting in an emergency session Sunday—opted not to expand a lifeline of emergency funds that has been sustaining Greek banks while nervous depositors pulled their money out. In response, European stocks slumped Monday and the euro fell . Greece’s stock market will be closed for as long as banks are not open to the public, the country’s Capital Markets Commission said. On Athens’s rainy streets late Sunday, many ATMs had already been emptied. Prime Minister […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Euro sharply down as Greece crisis deepens, default looms

TOKYO/WELLINGTON The euro tumbled in Asian trading on Monday after Greece failed to strike a deal with its lenders, taking it a step closer to a debt default that could force its exit from the euro zone. The Swiss and Japanese currencies, both of which often appreciate during times of uncertainty on their perceived safe-haven status, were broadly higher. The euro EUR=EBS fell to a one-month low of $1.0955 on the EBS trading platform, about 2 U.S. cents from levels around $1.1165 late on Friday. It was last at $1.1018, down 1.3 percent on the day. "Ahead of the weekend, there seemed to be a market consensus that something would get done for Greece, so it was a rare occasion when the market takes position for the optimistic view," said Bart Wakabayashi, head of foreign exchange for State Street Global Markets in Tokyo. But the likelihood of a Greek […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Euro, stock futures plunge on Greece default fears

TOKYO (This version of the story was refiled to correct grammar in first paragraph) U.S. stock futures and the euro fell almost 2 percent in early Asian trade on Monday as Greece looks set to default on its debt repayment this week, forcing Athens to impose capital controls to halt bank runs. The euro fell as much as 1.9 percent to $1.0955 EUR= , its lowest level in almost a month. Against the yen, the common currency dropped more than 3 percent to 133.80 yen, a five-week low. U.S. stock futures dived 1.8 percent ESc1, hitting a three-month low, while U.S. Treasuries futures price TYv1 gained almost two points. Asian shares look set to open lower, despite the Chinese central bank’s monetary easing on Saturday, as investors are seen flocking to safer assets on the spectre of an unprecedented debt default by a euro zone country. A cash-strapped Greece […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Are We Headed For Global Warming Collapse?

This is the first of several posts I will do on Global Collapse. I am not saying, right here anyway, that civilization as we know it will collapse, but I am asking the question: “Can collapse be avoided?” This post will deal with global warming and the associated climate change. Collapse Post 2 Right now CO2 is higher than it has been in over 20 million years. But it has been higher, a lot higher. The chart below was published in the Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World 2015 and the source of their data was Goddard Institute for Space Studies Collapse Post 11 What this chart clearly shows is that global warming, so far, is primarily a northern hemisphere phenomenon and mostly above 60 degrees latitude. Texas C+C Eight month of flat to down production from the Bakken. Bakken Amplified OPEC 12 Saudi Arabia

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Prices Pare Losses to End Flat

Oil prices bounced back close to unchanged Friday with expectations for summer demand limiting fears connected with Greek bailout talks and Iran’s nuclear deal. Oil has stayed locked in around $60 a barrel since the end of April, bringing at least a pause to big swings that started last year. Friday started with losses connected with fears that Greek’s debt woes could hurt the world economy and that Iran could soon add to the flood of oil on the world market. But prices gravitated back toward $60 with many bulls believing cheap oil will feed rising demand among drivers. Concerns about oversupply have weighed on oil prices. “The tight range we’re in will last at least a few more weeks,” said Ric Navy, senior vice president for energy futures at brokerage R.J. O’Brien & Associates LLC. Light, sweet crude for August delivery settled down 7 cents, or 0.1%, to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Crude Oil Ends Below $60 as Volatility Sinks

Crude oil ended below $60 a barrel as near-record U.S. production prolonged an oversupply amid the lowest trading volatility in eight months. U.S. crude stockpiles remain 84 million barrels above the five-year average for this time of the year. The nation pumped near the fastest pace in more than three decades even as the rig count dropped. A measure of future price fluctuations slipped to the lowest level since October. Oil’s rebound from a six-year low has faltered on signs a global glut will persist as rising prices spur output. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has pumped more than its quota of 30 million barrels a day for the past 12 months as the group seeks to defend market share against higher-cost producers. “We are still pumping at a near-record level and production hasn’t been affected by the rig count yet,” said Gene McGillian, a senior analyst at […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil prices mixed, all eyes on Greece

SINGAPORE Brent edged up on Friday while U.S. crude eased, but both were stuck in tight ranges as investors focused on talks aimed at averting a Greek debt default. Brent crude for August delivery was up 21 cents at $63.41 a barrel by 0646 GMT (0246 EDT) after ending the previous session down 29 cents, or 0.5 percent. U.S. crude for delivery in August fell 7 cents to $59.63 a barrel after finishing Thursday down 57 cents, or almost 1 percent. "Traders and investors are very much on tenterhooks on the outcome," said Ben Le Brun, a market analyst at OptionsXpress in Sydney, following another failed round of talks to finalize a cash-for-reform pact for Greece. Euro zone finance ministers are due to meet on Saturday in a last-ditch attempt to clinch a deal with Greece to avoid a debt default by Athens and possibly a Greek exit from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple