Happy Nonfarm Friday! Crude is mustering a positive end to a rather lackluster week, as poor US oil demand (hark, a 13-yr low) threw a wet blanket over prices. It has taken a decent employment report here in the US today to reverse this trend. Meanwhile, natural gas is on another rollercoaster ride, falling three days in a row before rallying over 7% on the back of a slightly more bullish-than-consensus storage print on Thursday. What a week it has been…let’s hit the cuisine: » read more
Ok, ok, I’ll put the Star Wars theme to bed. For today, my friends, we are going to look at some facts and figures about storage across a number of our dearly beloved commodities and a number of geographies – highlighting (for the most part) a theme of staunch stockpiles.
To further provide some educational information, in addition to the focus on energy, there is also some trivia relating to the ultimate sultan of storage…the squirrel. So enjoy!
Good day, good day! Crude has toppled below the monkey bar of $100 late on this week as – would you believe - Euro debt concerns arise once more. In addition, crude has been clobbered by a disheartening domestic demand situation. Total product demand is down 7.2% on this time last year, while gasoline demand has just plummeted to its lowest level since 2001. And while on the subject of plummeting to new lows, the good ship natty has keeled over and made a decade low as supply remains staunch and the storage surplus swells (…while weather is set to swelter). Ay, there’s the rub, and here’s the grub. » read more
Happy Friday 13th! And it is indeed turning out to be an unlucky day for markets, as credit downgrades to European countries have scuppered the goodwill that had been carefully constructed in the last week.
Crude had already been pressured back into double-digitdom by the likely delay to an oil embargo on Iran by the EU, while natural gas has plundered lower and lower on moderate weather outlooks, and both rampant storage surpluses and supply. But enough from me, let’s hit the treats. » read more
Recently I’ve been sounding like a broken record as I keep referencing how natural gas prices are re-enacting a certain scene from Star Wars.
It’s the one where the Millennium Falcon is being inextricably pulled towards the Death Star by a tractor beam…except in naturalgasworld™, natty is the Millennium Falcon and the Death Star is below the $3 mark. With me so far? Good, good. The analogies, however, do not end there. There is a number of themes which flow through natural gas like the force…and here are but a few. » read more
Matt Smith spent his twenties working in investment management in London, before swapping his bowler hat for a banjo and moving to Louisville, KY, and Summit Energy. When he is not reading, writing (or dreaming) about financial markets, he can be found enthusing about music, red wine, spicy food, or his family. And lamenting his soccer team, West Ham.
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