Better Fill up today

[Wilma]

From gas to beans.  I thought it was the other way around.

[Diane Amberg]

 

[frawin]

Crude traded at $126.17 /barrel in overnite access trading and is trading a lot of long contracts. There is unrest in Nigeria, with the rebels continuing to hamper production, Nigeria is a big supplier to the US. I have a feeling that Venzuela and Iran are also holding back exports, both countries are very Anti-American.
Frank

[frawin]

Here is one of the biggest reasons crude has increased so much in the past 3 years. We have made China the 2nd largest consumer of oil in the world and that continues to grow.

China Car Sales Grow Least in Year on Inflation, Stock Market

By Irene Shen and Wendy Leung

May 9 (Bloomberg) -- China's passenger-car sales rose 11 percent in April, the slowest pace in at least a year, as a falling stock market and surging inflation crimped spending.

Automakers sold 604,900 cars and sport-utility vehicles in the country last month, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said in an e-mailed statement today. In the first four months, sales jumped 18 percent to 2.46 million.

Chinese consumers have curbed spending on new automobiles and other luxuries as rising food prices have pushed inflation to near an 11-year high. The nation's stock market also plunged 26 percent in the first four months, cutting the investment gains that spurred car sales last year.

``People's wealth shrank because of the stock market and that hurt demand,'' said Huang Zherui, an analyst at CSM Asia. Car sales will probably grow less than 20 percent this year because of ``the uncertainty in China's economic growth.''

Car sales rose 22 percent last year, helped by the nation's benchmark stock index, the CSI 300, more than doubling. At least three-fifths of Chinese stock-market investors use their profits to buy new cars, the automakers' group said last year.

General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and other overseas carmakers are banking on China and other emerging markets to offset slower demand in the U.S., the world's largest auto market.

GM, the biggest overseas automaker in China, expects to boost annual sales in the country by about half over the next three years to 500,000 vehicles, it said last month.

Toyota, the world's second-largest automaker, aims to raise China sales 36 percent to 640,000 vehicles in the year ending March 2009, it said yesterday.



North Sea Brent Daily Shipments to Fall 9.5% in June

[Diane Amberg]

Thanks, I always enjoy reading these. My Al keeps up on these markets also.

[frawin]

Crude Oil is trading in the $132.70/Barrel range and all of the outter months are up as well. Lots of long contracts trading and the market has every indication of going much higher.
Frank

[W. Gray]

Wonder what horse futures are?

[frawin]

Good question Waldo. I feel that there are some positive steps the government could take to lessen the impact, but i have learned from this forum that many of the people do not want the government sticking it's nose in their business.
Frank

[Diane Amberg]

We've been trying project our gas costs for our upcoming trip west and I think it's a losing battle. I'd been figuring about $1,000.00 and now I think I'm low. yowl!!!

[Wilma]

At the risk of starting another tirade against the government, this is one thing I wish they would stick their nose in.  The government has frozen prices before.  Why couldn't it be done for awhile with gas prices?  Oh, yes, it would have to start with crude and that hits some very big people in their back pockets.