oil

You have probably heard the stories about China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) bidding for Repsol YP'F’s Argentine assets in a quest for more natural resources for China. Well, apparently, the Chinese want a lot more than just…

During Alan Greenspan’s tenure at the helm of the Federal Reserve, he was often accused of using monetary policy to target asset markets so as to keep the party going.  In short, Alan Greenspan was seen by many, including myself, as the…

The real worry right now should be deflation, as we have not yet beaten back all of the ill deflationary effects of the financial crisis.  Nevertheless, a growing number of market participants see inflation as a longer term…

As I write this, the U.S. dollar has fallen to new 8-month lows against the British Pound and oil.  Sterling is up over 2 big figures to 1.6371 while oil (WTI crude front month contract) has marched up near $68 a barrel.  Clearly the sell…

I want to use this holiday weekend to fill in some gaps on major issues because I think we are at a key turning point. Because the economy has left the freefall stage and I have been more positive, I have been getting the feeling that I am…

If you have been folowing the commodities market, you would have noticed that most commodities have been rallying of late.  This includes oil, silver, gold, base metals and agricultural commodities.  Oil has gone from the low 30s to…

I read about ConocoPhillips taking a massive $34 billion writedown and my first reaction was glee. Why? This type of draconian response demonstrates that the glut of oil we now see will soon be a deficit. The oil patch is notoriously…

This is the time of year when everyone tends to look back and sum up the year in one way or another. I have been doing much of the same. In keeping with that theme, I have taken a good look through my nearly 1400 posts to get a better…

With oil prices having plummeted, one should expect Middle Eastern oil exporters' budgets to implode. What were budget surpluses will quickly turn to deficits, stoking civil unrest amongst the burgeoning masses. Very high population growth…

Recently, an enormous 33% premium has developed for Brent. To me, this gap is utterly inexplicable except by technical factors. Translation: some players have a huge long position of WTI and they are getting squeezed.