Better Fill up today

[Teresa]

I have to sneak in here and say something.

I am sooooo ignorant on futures and commodities and everything that is posted here .. but I read word for word trying so hard to understand it all.
( sad when your own son is worlds ahead of you in things like this)    ( but I'm also VERY proud of him too    )

I appreciate all who take the time to get this information and post it here for all for the ones who understand it and for the ones of us (me  ) who don't.

[Catwoman]

Teresa, I'm with you...I have to go back, read and re-read these posts...but Frank, I do so appreciate your posting this information...I have gotten a real education on this subject, thanks to you!  I have been in the Phillips Mansion personally and was fascinated by how that huge business got its start.  Thanks to you, maybe I'll understand more than just the pattern of the wallpaper in the Phillips kids' room! (l0l)

[frawin]

Teresa, the futures market gives one the right to buy or sell a certain Commodity, Corn, Beef, Crude oil, Gasoline, Gold, Silver, almost anything, at some given time in the future. It maybe to buy or sell at a fixed price 1 month, 1 year, even 10 years out. Most Commodities are now traded around the clock and around the world. It is an excellent way to gurantee a certain price for a certain period of time. Dan is always a pleasure to communicate with. When I was in Howard for Ellwoods services, I happened to be in line behind Dan at Poplar Pizza and i introduced myself, Dan is a very impressive young man. I told him that I had lots of great in-depth conversations with his Grandfather Gene, Great Uncles Glenn and Bob, and also had talked to his Great Grandfather Cookson. I remember when the cookson Boys came to Howard, i think it was from the St Lous area. Dan has some great Genes, (no pun intended) his Grandfather Fred and his Grandmother Jo, are first class quality people. When I was a young boy and Jo and Fred came to town I though Jo was the most attractive woman I had ever seen. Myrna and i really enjoyed our visit with them sometime back and plan to stop and see them again when in the area.
Frank

[frawin]

August Crude settled at $145.18 up $0.10 on the day, interestingly not as many contracts traded as usual. Natural Gas has not settled yet buy is at $11.955 up $0.051 for the day.

[flo]

This is very hard to understand and for awhile I thought Frank was very fluent in "greek" - I agree, for those that understand this, it's a good thing,  I think.  I try to read and understand, but I tend to just watch the "bottom line" that appears at the pump.  That pretty well tells you the direction things are going.

[dnalexander]

The nice thing about this forum is that there are many topics of interest. Some topics are fun, some topics are important, some topics are over our heads, and some topics are of no interest personally. The great thing is that the internet has given us more exposure to all the knowledge that exists. Yes sometimes it is overwhelming, vulgar,  false, you get the idea where I am going. I may have to do a lot of thinking about what I find on the internet but I think if I give it a hard look I can make a better decision as to what I think, and what is best to make my life better. This is a long winded way to say that I think we all benefit by the posts on this forum no matter what our opinion. I think the way that this forum makes us better friends and more informed is one of the great advancements we have made. So don't be turned off by things you don't understand or are not interested in you just might change your mind or learn something new. If you read it and it doesn't interest you then go on; nothing wrong with that.

David

[flo]

exactly, David.  I read most of the posts, even those in catagories I'm usually not "into", but you never know what you might learn and just might learn something about a new subject and actually enjoy it.

[frawin]

Oil Rises Above $146 as Falling Dollar Boosts Crude's Appeal



July 15 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose above $146 a barrel as the dollar fell to a record low against the euro, boosting the appeal of commodities as a currency hedge for investors.

Oil has gained 52 percent this year as a sliding U.S. currency and falling U.S. equities prompted investors to buy commodities. The dollar fell on speculation Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will tell lawmakers today credit-market losses will weigh on U.S. economic growth.

``There is still a flow of money into oil out of the equities market because it is so weak and out of the dollar because it is so weak,'' said Eugen Weinberg, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. Oil prices ``will be looking for $150 in coming weeks.''

Crude oil for August delivery rose as much as $1.37, or 0.9 percent, to $146.55 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $146.52 a barrel at 10:35 a.m. London time. Futures reached a record $147.27 a barrel on July 11 and have risen 96 percent in the past year.

The dollar fell to an all-time low of $1.6038 per euro in London from $1.5908 yesterday.

Brazil's state oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said a strike by employees had cut 63,000 barrels a day of production as of 5 a.m. Singapore time today. The union representing the workers had said the action could reduce output by as much as 400,000 barrels a day.

Campos Basin

Petrobras said it is still pumping crude from all but two of 38 offshore platforms affected by the strike in the country's Campos Basin, the source of about 82 percent of Brazil's production of 1.8 million barrels a day. Employees began a 5-day strike in the area yesterday over pay.

Chevron Corp.'s Nigeria unit resumed oil production that was cut after a militant attack on a pipeline nearly one month ago. The pipeline was breached June 19, resulting in about 120,000 barrels a day of lost production, Agence France-Presses reported at the time.

``The pipeline is back into service and production is resumed,'' Chevron spokeswoman Margaret Cooper said in an e- mailed statement yesterday.

Brent crude oil for August settlement traded at $145.31 a barrel, up $1.39, on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange at 10:33 a.m. local time. The August contract, which expires tomorrow, reached a record $147.50 on July 11. The more-widely held September contract rose 97 cents to $146.30 a barrel.

U.S. Supplies

U.S. crude-oil supplies probably fell as record prices discouraged buying by refiners, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts.

Supplies of crude declined 2 million barrels in the week ended July 11 from 293.9 million, according to the median of responses by six analysts before an Energy Department report July 16. Supplies fell 5.84 million barrels in last week's report, double the forecast.

Gasoline stockpiles probably gained 500,000 barrels from 211.8 million barrels the week before, the survey showed.

Inventories of distillate fuel, including heating oil and diesel, probably rose 2 million barrels from 122.5 million barrels the week before. All the analysts predicted an increase.

Refineries probably operated at 89.3 percent of capacity, up 0.1 percentage point from the week before, the survey showed.

[frawin]

Bear in mind that 10 years ago China was not even a factor in the world energy supply, now they are the second largest energy consumer and will be Number 1, Numero Uno, if we keep helping them grow.
Frank

China Boosts Fuel Imports to Highest in Five Years 

By Winnie Zhu

July 15 (Bloomberg) -- China, the world's second-largest energy consumer, increased diesel and gasoline imports last month to meet rising demand from next month's Olympics Games and reconstruction after the May earthquake.

Diesel imports rose to 960,000 metric tons, the highest in at least five years, the Customs General Administration of China said in an e-mailed statement today. Gasoline purchases surged to 282,996 tons, with exports at 150,000 tons, the country remaining a net importer of the fuel for the second time.

China is increasing fuel imports for relief efforts after a 7.9-magnitude temblor struck the nation's southwestern Sichuan province on May 12. The August Games in the capital city Beijing increases the nation's need to build up stockpiles before the event, said Li Yujing, an oil analyst with China International Chemical Consulting Corp.

``State oil companies have been increasing overseas purchases for months to avoid shortages during the most important event,'' Li said by telephone from Beijing, referring to the Aug. 8-24 Olympics.

Diesel imports jumped more than 12-fold to 3.85 million tons in the first six months, today's figures show. Gasoline imports soared 31-fold to 837,322 tons.

China, traditionally a supplier of gasoline to Asian countries, became a net importer of the fuel for the first time in May after overseas purchases of the fuel more than doubled from April to 338,527 tons.

China was a net coal exporter in June as a bigger gap between international selling prices and domestic levels spurred overseas sales. Imports fell 32 percent to 2.78 million tons while exports jumped 83 percent to 6.99 million tons.

China's government on June 19 imposed ``temporary caps'' on domestic prices of coal used in power stations to help ease an electricity shortage, widening the gap with regional benchmarks.

Only the U.S. consumes more energy than China.

[DanCookson]

WOW, just checked the NYMEX Frank!!!  Did everyone take the gains and bail or what?


August down to 137
Sept down to 138

Etc...all look to have lost about 7-8 dollars per barrel in the last hour.