Post Tagged with: "oil"
Grokking the Canadian Dollar in Three Correlations
The brief study presented here shows that over the past 60 days, the Canadian dollar has been more correlated with the S&P 500 than most currencies we looked at, and is also highly correlated with the euro, though in line with most of the other major currencies. It correlation with crude oil is considerably weaker than with the S&P 500 or the euro, but is also in line with most of the other currencies we looked at
Chart of the Day: U.S. Gasoline Consumption Tanks in 2011
A chart of gasoline consumption and oil prices for the years 2000-
India: Land of Energy Opportunity
Quick, what country is the economic engine that will power world growth? If you answered “China,” you’re far from alone. But there’s another country that deserves as much attention and better yet, is much friendlier to investment: India, home to 1.2 billion people. To electrify all those houses, power the industries that keep all those people employed, and fuel the vehicles that more and more Indians own, India’s energy needs are shooting skyward
Protecting wealth in a world of recurring crisis
Happy Wednesday. I know the news is ‘less good’ today than it was when I last wrote you but writing these weeklies always puts me in a more positive frame of mind. Nevertheless, today’s topic is about downside risk. My hope is to frame the economic scenario globally and then to offer some strategies of mitigating what I believe is significant downside investment risk
Byron Wien’s Ten Surprises for 2012
As always, I present you Byron Wien’s Ten Surprises for 2011. He is bullish yet again – on both the US and emerging markets
A Battle for Oil Production Is Brewing
With big oil’s bank accounts full to the brim with cash, the stage is set for some significant acquisition activity… or, to put it another way, for a battle to buy producing assets. There are quite a number of contestants in the battle – big oil companies are not only competing against each other to sweep up good assets but also against the national oil companies of developing, energy-hungry nations like China, South Korea, and India. Oil demands are rising in these nations so quickly that just to cover expected annual demand increases those three countries would have to jointly spend $30 billion on acquisitions each year
Chart of the day: Hours of Work Needed to Buy a Barrel of Oil
Another awesome piece of work from our friends over at The Chart Store. The chart below is a times series of the numbers of hours of work — based on the average hourly wage — needed to buy a barrel of crude oil. Given the current wage of $19.53 in October it now takes 4.7 hours of work to purchase a barrel of crude. Add another couple of hours when Iran heats up
Is Iran About to Get Hot?
Here is something brewing off radar. We’re wondering if this is a factor as to why crude is bid and gold is coming back
Chart of the day: ratio of oil futures’ long to short positions
This chart by John Kemp of Reuters tells you that speculation played a huge role in the run up in oil prices earlier this year, hugely amplifying the underlying fundamental trend. Hat tip to the FT’s Izabella Kaminska. She is right to say “this chart is WOW!”
Saudi Arabia: When surging oil demand meets limited supply
The following note from Gulf News reinforces the concept that high population growth in the Middle East will slow the amount of oil available for export. I believe the consequences are higher prices
Russian Currency Outlook Negative Due To Falling Oil Prices
This fiscal uncertainty may be enough to prevent any ratings upgrades ahead, but we do not think the situation will worsen enough to lead to downgrades. Our sovereign rating model has Russia as a very solid BBB+/Baa1/BBB+ credit compared to actual ratings of BBB/Baa1/BBB. The political situation leaves a lot to be desired, with the return of Putin to the presidency next year unlikely to change the status quo. Yes, there is stability, but there is a sense that Russia is basically treading water and relying on high commodity prices rather than making much-needed structural reforms to the economy to boost competitiveness and entrepreneurship
Falling Oil Prices: A Worrying Trend and Saving Grace
When oil prices start to decline, investors and economists get worried. Oil prices in large part reflect global sentiment towards our economic future – prosperous, growing economies need more oil while slumping, shrinking economies need less, and so the price of crude indicates whether the majority believes we are headed for good times or bad. That explains the worry – those worried investors and economists are using oil prices as an indicator, and falling prices indicate bad times ahead