Market enthusiasm around the OPEC deal has vacillated significantly over the last week, alternating between optimism and pessimism. A healthy segment of investors view the current agreement with skepticism given the competing geopolitical interests of Iran and Saudi Arabia. And while that skepticism may turn out to be unwarranted; it is certainly possible that one or more of the OPEC members will cheat on any production agreement and overproduce, especially given the lack of effective monitoring mechanisms in place to control production. None of that matters much though. The more significant point about the OPEC agreement that investors may be missing is the sign of shifting attitudes that it portends. An agreement between two foes as intractable as the Saudis and Iran suggests that OPEC has finally accepted an important reality – they cannot turn back time. While U.S. unconventional production has been curtailed, only a fool would believe […]