Unintended Consequences Of The CFTC: Key Commodity ETFs May Suffer [View article]
Pricing would be a lot more rational if the demand side of the supply/demand equation were based on actual use. Business plans would be much more reliable and hedging would be less expensive.
Fidelity ratchets up its rhetoric against money market fund reform, warning U.S. regulators that proposed changes such as requiring more capital and placing restrictions on investor redemptions would "ultimately destroy" the $2.7T industry. What they really fear is that tighter regulations could drive investors to other investment vehicles, particularly banks. [View news story]
Facebook (FB) plans to increase its $2.5B credit line to help cover a major tax hit when employee stock awards vest shortly after it goes public, Reuters reports. Helping employees cover tax on restricted stock is unusual and leaves the employer with a "very expensive obligation" that could increase if FB shares climb. [View news story]
Very un capitalistic behavior...as is Zuckerberg's plan to pay the full tax on his $5B gain.
Bank of America (BAC) is denying reports that it is testing plans to charge customers for keeping a checking account: "Media reports this morning provided inaccurate information. [BofA] is not planning to increase checking account fees with our existing customers." Perhaps Sen. Dick Durbin, one of the bank's harshest critics, will be satisfied (WSJ report). [View news story]
B of A got their reaction.....again....... PR disaster.....ala the debit card mess.....
Tacked onto the payroll tax cut extension is a provision that would force President Obama to make a decision on TransCanada's (TRP) Keystone pipeline within 60 days. However, the State Department said it won't be rushed into a decision, which could enable Obama to OK the project in principle but delay construction. [View news story]
So where is the proposal to build a Canadian pipeline to the West Coast? Why aren't the Chinese volunteering to finance it? Why does Mitch McConnell object so much to using NG for trucks? Why is he so insistent on this pipeline? Is it because this pipeline sends tar sands crude to the gulf to be refined into diesel? Might we not be better off building NG pipes and infrastructure to use the NG for transportation fuel? Who, among his campaign contributors, benefits from the XL, and might lose if the US switched heavy trucks to NG? Three guesses, and the first two don't count.
In his forecast for 2012, economist Nariman Behravesh says the predominant risks are still to the downside for the global economy. The spiraling debt crisis in Europe remains the "single biggest threat" to the world economy, with China’s ability to engineer a soft landing running a close second. We're not out of the woods yet, with a recession for Europe already “penciled in,” Behravesh says, but the U.S. will likely avoid a renewed slump - albeit with sluggish growth. (video) [View news story]
Very much agree on corporate guidance. Guidance form Q2 wasn't so hot, even worse when Q3 was reported and Q4 mid quarter updates are awful. I don't think we're even in the woods yet, much less out of them.
Sure, taxpayers hate bailouts, whether of banks or nations, but they need to stop and consider the "costs of the panic and destruction" that would have ensued without them, James Pethokoukis argues. TARP bought U.S. banks time to raise private capital and restore confidence; the European plan "is in the same vein." [View news story]
Well, Wyatt, you are free to live in Hong Kong under a communist government but you might find there are a few regulations. Fake drugs. Suppose the statin you take turns out to be soda powder and salt, which definitely cuts manufacturing costs, or worse, contaminated with some biological or chemical agent that actually kills you. With no FDA that's not unlikely. You might have been born a century later than you want, but the good old days had their problems if you read history.
Sure, taxpayers hate bailouts, whether of banks or nations, but they need to stop and consider the "costs of the panic and destruction" that would have ensued without them, James Pethokoukis argues. TARP bought U.S. banks time to raise private capital and restore confidence; the European plan "is in the same vein." [View news story]
Lemonade, or heroin, or guns, or fake Rolexes, or copied software, or fake pharmaceuticals, or snake oil or whatever. It's all capitalism right?
TransCanada CEO (TRP +0.4%) Russ Girling hammers out the message that it's all systems go for the Keystone XL pipeline project that currently sits in limbo. He says the firm can "quite easily" reroute the pipeline in Nebraska and aims to gain approval from state and federal regulators in six to nine months. [View news story]
Now this gets real interesting. The Seaway pipeline is a big pipe. There are others that could reverse but there are contracts outstanding. Any way we have been trucking oil from Cushing to the gulf refineries for months, which is why inventories have been coming down. The question now becomes how much spare refining capacity is there in the gulf or is that the next bottleneck? EIA doesn't show a whole lot of spare capacity. The export market is for distillates, gasoline, diesel, not really for tar sands crude because its heavy and hard to refine. The advantage of the gulf refiners is that they can handle heavy crude. The original reason for the XL ("this will drain Cushing" per Transcanada when it was proposed) kind of goes away. There's always been plenty of pipe to Cushing but not out. I assume the XL gets built, but it may be a pipe to nowhere when it's done unless somebody bucks up and builds some more refining capacity. The lack of refining capacity is why there's no tar sands pipe to Vancouver.
It's just business: German Khan, a founding shareholder of the Alfa Group who is said to run the oil joint venture TNK-BP, makes no bones about his aggressive style. Rumored to carry a chrome-plated pistol under his coat, Khan says The Godfather is a “very instructive film,” WSJ reports. [View news story]
Tyler Cowen says traditional conservative responses to wealth inequality - a stronger work ethic and embrace of the entrepreneurial spirit - are growing tired: "Modern conservative thought is relying increasingly on social engineering through economic policy, by hoping that a weaker social welfare state will somehow promote individual responsibility. Maybe it won't." [View news story]
Although the delay in the Keystone pipeline likely will cost TransCanada (TRP) $1B, general counsel Sean McMaster prefers to look at the bright side. Nebraska "has been fairly specific" about which environmentally sensitive areas it wants avoided, so a review for a reroute "might take six months, not 18 months." Does this man understand U.S. politics? [View news story]
Why doesn't TRP build a pipeline to the west coast of Canada? Think about it, it hasn't even been proposed. Who is the customer for this oil? Why build a pipeline all the way to the GOM, when the storage is in Oklahoma? Again, think about it. If there isn't enough capacity to bring oil from Canada, why is Cushing full? Why are we trucking oil from Cushing to the GOM? Is this pipeline actually in the best interest of the country? Is it of any interest to the country? How does the US benefit from this pipeline? If we don't benefit, why should we take the risks?
The State Department's decision to delay - likely until after the 2012 election - TransCanada's (TRP) Keystone oil pipeline to study an alternative route sparks praise and condemnation: A victory for "people from all walks of life against dirty tar sands," vs. "more than 20,000 new American jobs have just been sacrificed in the name of political expediency." [View news story]
Hey Terry, never let the facts get in the way of a good theory. This pipeline isn't to bring oil to the US anyway, it's purpose is to get Canadian oil to Gulf refineries and sell the output to Latin America at Brent like prices. The US is now a net exporter of gasoline. You'll notice gasoline prices didn't reflect the drop in WTI prices. Another question, with the world economy threatening to implode, why are the crude traders talking $100 for WTI and $4.50 for gasoline? Something doesn't smell right.
Oil marches higher, WTI crude taking out $98/barrel for the first time since mid-summer even as most of the rest of the commodity complex sells off. Ahead of winter, heating oil is a few ticks from its highest level since the start of May. USO +2.2%. Heating oil ETF: UHN +2.3%. [View news story]
Economic forecasts continue to decline. EU demand is questionable. Chinese exports softening and yet crude prices continue to climb. Something doesn't look right.
Unintended Consequences Of The CFTC: Key Commodity ETFs May Suffer [View article]
Unintended Consequences Of The CFTC: Key Commodity ETFs May Suffer [View article]
Fidelity ratchets up its rhetoric against money market fund reform, warning U.S. regulators that proposed changes such as requiring more capital and placing restrictions on investor redemptions would "ultimately destroy" the $2.7T industry. What they really fear is that tighter regulations could drive investors to other investment vehicles, particularly banks. [View news story]
Facebook (FB) plans to increase its $2.5B credit line to help cover a major tax hit when employee stock awards vest shortly after it goes public, Reuters reports. Helping employees cover tax on restricted stock is unusual and leaves the employer with a "very expensive obligation" that could increase if FB shares climb. [View news story]
Bank of America (BAC) is denying reports that it is testing plans to charge customers for keeping a checking account: "Media reports this morning provided inaccurate information. [BofA] is not planning to increase checking account fees with our existing customers." Perhaps Sen. Dick Durbin, one of the bank's harshest critics, will be satisfied (WSJ report). [View news story]
Tacked onto the payroll tax cut extension is a provision that would force President Obama to make a decision on TransCanada's (TRP) Keystone pipeline within 60 days. However, the State Department said it won't be rushed into a decision, which could enable Obama to OK the project in principle but delay construction. [View news story]
In his forecast for 2012, economist Nariman Behravesh says the predominant risks are still to the downside for the global economy. The spiraling debt crisis in Europe remains the "single biggest threat" to the world economy, with China’s ability to engineer a soft landing running a close second. We're not out of the woods yet, with a recession for Europe already “penciled in,” Behravesh says, but the U.S. will likely avoid a renewed slump - albeit with sluggish growth. (video) [View news story]
Sure, taxpayers hate bailouts, whether of banks or nations, but they need to stop and consider the "costs of the panic and destruction" that would have ensued without them, James Pethokoukis argues. TARP bought U.S. banks time to raise private capital and restore confidence; the European plan "is in the same vein." [View news story]
Sure, taxpayers hate bailouts, whether of banks or nations, but they need to stop and consider the "costs of the panic and destruction" that would have ensued without them, James Pethokoukis argues. TARP bought U.S. banks time to raise private capital and restore confidence; the European plan "is in the same vein." [View news story]
TransCanada CEO (TRP +0.4%) Russ Girling hammers out the message that it's all systems go for the Keystone XL pipeline project that currently sits in limbo. He says the firm can "quite easily" reroute the pipeline in Nebraska and aims to gain approval from state and federal regulators in six to nine months. [View news story]
It's just business: German Khan, a founding shareholder of the Alfa Group who is said to run the oil joint venture TNK-BP, makes no bones about his aggressive style. Rumored to carry a chrome-plated pistol under his coat, Khan says The Godfather is a “very instructive film,” WSJ reports. [View news story]
Tyler Cowen says traditional conservative responses to wealth inequality - a stronger work ethic and embrace of the entrepreneurial spirit - are growing tired: "Modern conservative thought is relying increasingly on social engineering through economic policy, by hoping that a weaker social welfare state will somehow promote individual responsibility. Maybe it won't." [View news story]
Although the delay in the Keystone pipeline likely will cost TransCanada (TRP) $1B, general counsel Sean McMaster prefers to look at the bright side. Nebraska "has been fairly specific" about which environmentally sensitive areas it wants avoided, so a review for a reroute "might take six months, not 18 months." Does this man understand U.S. politics? [View news story]
The State Department's decision to delay - likely until after the 2012 election - TransCanada's (TRP) Keystone oil pipeline to study an alternative route sparks praise and condemnation: A victory for "people from all walks of life against dirty tar sands," vs. "more than 20,000 new American jobs have just been sacrificed in the name of political expediency." [View news story]
Oil marches higher, WTI crude taking out $98/barrel for the first time since mid-summer even as most of the rest of the commodity complex sells off. Ahead of winter, heating oil is a few ticks from its highest level since the start of May. USO +2.2%. Heating oil ETF: UHN +2.3%. [View news story]