Category Archives: Commodities

Frack Now, Pay Later: A New Era In U.S. Oil?

Oilfield services providers like Halliburton and Schlumberger are so desperate to keep the fracking party going that they are extending credit to already-levered frackers.

Wolf Richter: China’s Hard Landing Suddenly Gets a Lot Rougher

Despite the 7% GDP growth published and hotly defended by the Chinese government, it is increasingly clear that the country is beset with a host of immense problems, after a debt-fueled binge of overbuilding and over-stimulating.

Winning in Maui: TPP Ministerial Negotiations Fail, with No Date Set for the Next Round

Winning a battle in the long campaign against TPP: It was “domestic politics” that preserved our national sovereignty

China’s Stock Market Falling Off a Cliff: Why, and Why Care?

What explains the turmoil in Chinese stock markets, and what does it mean for the rest of the world?

Chinese Stock Market Rout Continues; Trading Halted in Over Half of Listed Stocks

The Chinese stock market meltdown is accelerating despite government intervention and is blowing back to commodities markets, including copper and oil, which are trading down based on concern that the stock market plunge is a harbinger of even more economic weakness. And the decline may represent the beginning of the end of the faith in China’s command and control economy.

Oil Markets Could Be In For A Shock From China Soon

China’s oil consumption is a bigger part of global demand than most analysts acknowledge. A slowdown in buying after China stopped stockpiling diesel for the summer Olympics was a proximate cause of the 2008 oil bust. China is again in a stockpiling phase, which could precede another not-well-anticipated demand drop.

How the China’s New Silk Road is Shifting Geopolitics

Even though China’s Silk Road initiative is in its early stages and still opportunistic, traditional rivalries could impede progress. Even so, the US is concerned about how China has gotten and is making countermoves.

How Much Longer Can The Oil Age Last?

I suspect readers will draw suitably concerned environmental conclusions from this forecast, that the oil era has at least another 30 years to run.

Witnessing A Fundamental Change In The Oil Sector

The U.S. oil production decline has begun.

Wolf Richter: Australia Runs out of Luck, Now Needs a Miracle

By Lindsay David, Australia, author of Print: The Central Bankers Bubble, founder of LF Economics. Originally published at Wolf Street. Australia, you have officially run out of luck. While leveraged property investors in Sydney and Melbourne are desperately hunting for a senseless “net-yield” that makes the yield on a German 2-year bund look rewarding, the […]

John Helmer: Why Faking is Failing in the Russian Art Market

Increasing buyer sophistication in the Russian art market is squeezing networks of fakers and forgers.

Why Did Commodity Prices Move Together?

As strange as it may seem, most economists loudly disputed the notion that the rise in commodity prices, particularly in the first half of 2008, was in large measure due to financial speculation. More and more analytical work (such as comparisons of price action in commodities trades on futures exchanges with ones that have large markets but are not exchange-traded, like eggplant, a staple in India, and cooking oil) have dented the orthodox view.

Michael Hudson: Europe Tilts East Towards China

The sudden rush of countries joining China’s infrastructure bank, including supposed US allies like the UK, Germany, and France, demonstrates the desire of not just emerging but also advanced economies to have access to international institutions that are not dominated by the US. Whether the infrastructure bank actually winds up being better, as opposed to simply different than existing institutions remains to be seen. But as Hudson describes, the World Bank sets a low bar.

Gail Tverberg: The Oil Glut and Low Prices Reflect an Affordability Problem

Tverberg argues that low oil prices likely to be with us for a long time, due to the fact that demand will remain relatively weak. Given the reluctance of governments to engage in aggressive enough spending measures, the idea of that more economies will become mired in a Japan-like slump or weak demand is entirely plausible. And that’s before you get to the wild card of a Eurozone unraveling.

Wolf Richter: Wall Street Has a Dream About the Price of Oil

Is Wall Street’s upbeat take on the prospect for a continued recovery in oil prices credible?