This has absolutely nothing to do with supply and demand. |
This is a postcard from another country. If only we could have kept these numbers without the hurricane, this would have been a real sign of hope. |
This is all about Tropical Storm Rita ... obviously, the last thing that this market needs is for a hurricane to hit the western gulf where it didn't hit last time. |
This is the big one. This is unmitigated, bad news for consumers. |
This week's DOE report showed a decent withdrawal in distillate stocks, with demand finally showing some teeth. |
Traders remain extremely nervous about gasoline supplies, especially with the switch to ethanol nationwide. |
U.S. refineries prefer a lighter grade of crude than OPEC can add right now, ... The big problem is the refining issue. Now with another storm threatening the Gulf, and the half the Gulf that avoided Katrina, it has traders spooked this morning. We really don't need another storm near the producing areas at all. |
U.S. refineries prefer a lighter grade of crude than OPEC can add right now. The big problem is the refining issue. Now with another storm threatening the Gulf, and the half the Gulf that avoided Katrina, it has traders spooked this morning. We really don't need another storm near the producing areas at all. |
Unless Tropical Storm Maria follows in Katrina's footsteps, we may be able to look back on this weekend as the worst of a bad situation. |
We also broke an important barrier. Once oil broke $62.50, a lot of mutual funds and speculators started buying. |
We are looking at prices dramatically higher than a year ago in some cases. |
We can debate what percentage of the profits should be plowed back into the company and what percentage belongs to the shareholders. Not being a shareholder, I'd prefer to see them err in the direction of spending a larger portion on refineries and new (oil and gas) fields and infrastructure. |
We could be looking at gasoline lines and $4 gas, maybe even $5 gas, if this thing does the worst it could do, |
We did have some profit-taking early, but I think a lot of people that were caught behind the eight ball saw that as an opportunity to buy. |
We don't know how much of the refinery is down or for how long. But not to negate the human tragedy, it happened at the worst time of the year seasonally. And it happens at a time the market is nervous and looking for reasons to go higher anyway. |