Crude Drops, Yields Slump, Futures Tumble

  “A global flight-to-safety continues to dominate the landscape as lower oil prices drives the bid for core fixed income markets”        – ED&F Man Anyone who was hoping the market would rebound on last-minute news that the US government has gotten funding for another 9 months, will be disappointed this morning, when futures are…

Late Selling Puts Pressure On Friday

Thursday saw another attempt by bulls to make up the losses of the previous day, but bears didn’t wait until the next day to attack. Instead, an afternoon assault pushed markets back towards their lows, setting up a situation for further losses today (Friday). Volume was light, and there is plenty of support nearby to…

Bear Of The Day: Conn’s (CONN)

When the economy is humming along, extending consumers credit can help keep the wheels oiled up and running. Lending eases up across the economy from mortgages for homes to auto loans to consumer credit. Today’s Bear of the Day is a company that had been readily extending consumers credit to buy their products. The problem…

Weakest Demand For Crude In 12 Years

OPEC cut the forecast for how much crude oil it will need to provide in 2015 to the lowest in 12 years amid surging U.S. shale supplies and reduced estimates for global consumption. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries lowered its projection for 2015 by about 300,000 barrels a day, to 28.9 million a day….

Dollar Consolidates As Oil Slide Continues

The US dollar is trading within yesterday’s ranges against the major currencies. The Canadian dollar is the main exception. It is pushing lower still, with the greenback pushing a little beyond CAD1.1550. The main development today is the continued drop in oil prices.  The latest cause has been the cuts in demand forecast by OPEC and IEA. Generally softer…

The Financialized-Oil Dominoes Are Toppling

The drop in oil revenues has triggered a self-reinforcing feedback dynamic. Oil is not just something that is refined into fuel–it is capital, collateral, debt and risk. In other words, it is intrinsically financial. As I noted in The Oil-Drenched Black Swan, Part 2: The Financialization of Oil, oil has been financialized to the point that few outside…