Top Stories
China’s July exports, imports fall more than expected
China’s exports and imports fell more than expected in July in a rocky start to the third quarter, suggesting global demand remains weak in the aftermath of Britain’s decision to leave the EU. Exports fell 4.4 percent from a year earlier, the General Administration of Customs said on Monday, while adding that it expects pressure on exports is likely to ease at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Imports fell 12.5 percent from a year earlier, the biggest decline since February, suggesting domestic demand remains sluggish despite a flurry of measures to stimulate growth. That resulted in a trade surplus of $52.31 billion in July, versus a $47.6 billion forecast and June’s $48.11 billion. Economists polled by Reuters had expected trade to remain weak but show some signs of moderating. […]
Oil’s Drop Stokes Worries About a Slippery Slope in Stocks, Junk Bonds
Concern is again growing that the oil market could turn into a negative for stocks and high-yield bonds, despite Friday’s record closes in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq NDAQ -0.35 % Composite indexes. U.S. crude for September delivery dropped below $40 a barrel on Tuesday, marking its lowest close since April and the 10th decline in 12 trading sessions, before rebounding to end the week at $41.80. Oil is down 18% since early June. Though the decline has been driven largely by a surplus of crude, some money managers fear tumbling oil prices will erode investor sentiment and spread to other markets from U.S. stocks to riskier bonds. Many investors blame oil declines in part for the broad rout early this year that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 10%. The correlation between U.S. oil prices and the S&P 500 stock index climbed to a multiyear […]
OPEC Plans Informal Talks Next Month, Sees Oil Dip Temporary
Oil prices set to increase in late 2016 as demand recovers Qatar minister says price slide partly linked to Brexit vote The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will hold informal talks at a conference in Algiers next month and considers the recent decline inoil prices “temporary,” the group’s president said Monday. “Expectation of higher crudeoil demand in the third and fourth quarters of 2016, coupled with decrease in availability, is leading the analysts to conclude that the current bear market is only temporary and oilprice would increase during later part of 2016,” Mohammed Al Sada, Qatar’s energy minister and holder of OPEC’s rotating presidency, said in a statement on the group’s website. Members constantly discuss ways to stabilize the market, he said. Oil tumbled into a bear market last week, ending a recovery that saw prices almost double from a 12-year low in February. The renewed […]
Heatwave spurs record gas burn by U.S. power producers
Record gas consumption at power plants this summer is accelerating the rebalancing of the U.S. natural gas market. Working gas stocks in underground storage started the year at a seasonal record of 3,643 billion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Stocks were 554 billion cubic feet higher than at the start of 2015. Unusually mild weather in February and March pushed the year-on-year surplus to 1,014 billion cubic feet by the middle of March ( tmsnrt.rs/2b7NDgB ). Since March, however, the year-over-year surplus has fallen consistently as excess stocks have been drawn down by a combination of static production and strong demand from power producers. The year-on-year surplus in gas stocks has declined every week since March 11 and was down to just 378 billion cubic feet on July 29 ( tmsnrt.rs/2aJwYiW ). The underlying change has been driven by very low gas prices which caused […]
People Are Calling Natural Gas a ‘Bridge’ to a Sustainable Future—They’re Wrong
For America to reach full renewable energy, we need to re-focus our investments — and divest ourselves of some dangerous ideas about natural gas. Natural gas coming out of the ground in Taiwan. (Photo: Naplee12/Wikimedia Commons) It’s been a hot summer, with record-breaking heat in the United States and around the world, and the same can be said for all of 2016 so far. According to new reports from National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Goddard Space Institute , 2016 is on course to be the hottest year on record around the globe. That makes 2016 the third year in a row to set a warming record — which should cause us grave concern. Indeed, the severe effects of climate change, including both drought and flooding in some of the poorest countries in the world, will lead to population dislocations that will likely exacerbate many of the dangerous […]
