If Alan Greenspan were serious about rehabilitating himself, he could hire himself out to central banks and instruct their officials in the art of Looking Serous and Appearing to Say Important Things While Actually Communicating Nothing. This is a crucial skill for anyone in an important bureaucratic position. The Chinese could use a few lessons. […]
Read more...Andy Xie, writing for Cajing, questions the durability of China’s recovery. He argues that much of hte upsurge in lending, which was one of the developments that cheered commentators, is fueling asset speculation, in this case in commodities, Reports this spring has suggested that as much as a third of the new lending was going […]
Read more...You cannot make this stuff up. Even as of last summer, there were reports that gold at retail was priced at a hefty premium, often 20% or more, to professional prices. Greater convenience comes with a greater markup. The German gold vending machine reportedly update prices every few minutes and add a 30% upcharge. The […]
Read more...Are we seeing a rerun of early 2008 in diminished form, as least as far as oil prices are concerned? Reader Michael sent along an article by Dan Dicker that contends that oil prices are well ahead of their fundamentals, and that, as before, the oil bulls are taking considerable cheer from Goldman’s boosterism. A […]
Read more...Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns. 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 the […]
Read more...This blog has been saying for a while that financial fraud is more pervasive than the officialdom wanted to acknowledge. We believe it is not uncommon at big firms (see last night’s discussion of Merrill, including comments), but no one wants to open that can of worms. However, small fry (even biggish ones, as long […]
Read more...One of our pet peeves has been that the quality of data for oil and gas is lousy. Given that these are physical products, bought and sold through many channels, with no way of assuring consistency and accuracy of reporting, it isn’t surprising. However, what is surprising is that many users of this information treat […]
Read more...Admittedly, the report from Emirates Business 24/7 (hat tip reader Michael) is only one expert’s opinion, but it focuses on an issue that hasn’t gotten the attention it warrants, namely, the level of the current oil glut and how much it is going to take to work it down. The subtext of this piece is […]
Read more...No, the headline is not an exaggeration. And it demonstrates that credit conditions remain tight for many less than stelar borrowers. From the Financial Times: In a striking example of how the global financial crisis and high food prices have strained the finances of poor and middle-income nations, countries including Russia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Morocco […]
Read more...Russia’s prime minister is not betting on a rebound in oil prices this year. From Moscow Times (hat tip reader Nivethan): Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered changes to this year’s federal budget to take into account the sharp drop in global oil prices, a decision that could pave the way for further spending […]
Read more...If you has only a passing interest in oil prices, it was not hard to notice the gaping price disparity between the two most widely quoted indexes, the current month Brent crude futures versus WTI (West Texas Intermediate), In the days prior to contract expiration in December, WTI traded as much as $9 below Brent. […]
Read more...The oil-rich countries of the Middle East have some advantages in pursuing the “green” energy market. First, they have pools of investment capital they can turn to this purpose. Possibly more important than access to money is that the funding sources may be willing to take a longer term horizon and lower returns than US […]
Read more...In past times of geopolitical stress, the dollar has generally rallies as investors move to safer havens. That behavior was not evident today as investors fretted about possible escalation of conflicts in the Middle East and South Asia. The euro went up a teeny bit, the yen faded slightly, the pound retreated. So where did […]
Read more...I am now wondering if Google censors posts (I use Blogger), I put this post up at 1:33 AM, and even had a reader e-mail me that the post had disappeared (with no listing in “Recent Posts” which happens if I put up a post and then remove it). I have a record that it […]
Read more...Liquefied natural gas doesn’t get much attention in the US because in aggregate, it is not a significant energy source here, and imports were at a five-year low in 2008. But supply/demand conditions has shifted dramatically overseas. The combination of depressed LNG prices and cheap shipping means that excess LNG may show up in the […]
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