Posts Tagged price
Americans may hit gas again after reserve release
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Favourites, Trading Markets on Июнь 29th, 2011
Going lightly on the gas pedal, getting a few dollars of gas rather than filling up, cutting out the cruising, and swapping the BMW for a Dodge Caliber — those are ways Americans are coping with gasoline prices well above $3 a gallon.
But people pumping gas on Friday from Miami to San Francisco saw prospects for lower prices thanks to President Barack Obama’s decision on Thursday to tap the country’s emergency petroleum stockpile as part of a global effort to bolster tight oil supplies.
The release of 30 million barrels from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve may not make people reschedule long summer road trips but could spell welcome relief for household budgets crimped by an anemic economic recovery.
While it might be a political move by Obama to help his re-election bid for 2012, as some speculate, most drivers seemed happy to get a break, even a small one. Jonathan Sifuentes, a 26-year-old power company employee, called the decision «the right thing to do» as he fueled up a Toyota Camry sedan on Miami’s outskirts.
«Everyone is hurting, with the economy, and unfortunately we do need gas to maintain our lifestyle, to go to work, to get groceries, to pick up our kids,» he said. Read the rest of this entry »
Obama takes flak for tapping emergency oil reserves
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Favourites, Trading Markets on Июнь 28th, 2011
President Barack Obama took withering fire from the oil industry and Republicans for agreeing to release the nation’s emergency oil supplies, a decision that senior officials said was prompted by the need to prop up the ailing economy.
Critics blasted the release of 30 million barrels of oil — half of a global injection coordinated by the International Energy Agency — as an ill-timed misuse of reserves at a time when U.S. supplies are relatively high, despite the loss of Libya’s exports for the past three months.
Some OPEC officials went further, calling it a political ploy that ignored Saudi Arabia’s promise to step up production and the fact that oil prices had already fallen sharply. But the move fueled questions about the timing and catalyst for releasing the stocks, which in the past have been reserved to address abrupt disruptions like natural disasters.
The Obama administration was also concerned about tight markets ahead of peak demand in the summer, when many Americans take to the roads for vacations. The jump in gasoline prices earlier this year was hurting Obama’s support as the White House was gearing up for its re-election campaign. Read the rest of this entry »
Falling Home Prices Hit Big Banks, Fannie, Freddie
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Trading Markets on Июнь 1st, 2011
Home prices began double-dipping months ago, but now that S&P/Case Shiller has chimed in, it really must be so. This report is the most widely-followed home price index, equally quoted in bank boardrooms, Treasury Department back rooms, and Congressional Committees.
The report finds home prices in Q1 of this year are now 2.9 percent below the previous quarterly bottom in Q1 of 2009, effectively giving up all the gains of the past few years, which were of course fueled by the home buyer tax credit.
«Just about everybody agrees we’re going to miss the seasonally strong period in 2011, which we should be at the very beginning of right now with May, but nobody thinks that will make any difference,» says S&P’s David Blitzer. «Everybody’s now keeping their fingers crossed for 2012 and wondering whether people just don’t want to own homes anymore.»
Keeping your fingers crossed for the housing market is just the tip of the iceberg. Prices have now fallen, on this index, more than they did during the Great Depression. «On that occasion, the peak in prices was not regained until 19 years after they first fell,» notes Paul Dales at Capital Economics. Read the rest of this entry »
Crude Oil Declines After Stalling at Highest Level Since September 2008
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Favourites, Trading Markets on Апрель 26th, 2011
Crude oil fell from the highest price in 31 months in New York after failing to maintain gains through a technical resistance level.
Oil slipped as much as 1.1 percent after reaching $113.48 a barrel, the highest price since Sept. 2, 2008. The gain breached a previous high of $113.46 set April 11.
“We hit that high, and people said that’s as high as we’re going to go today, so I’m going to take my profits,” said Carl Larry, president of Oil Outlook & Opinions LLC in Houston.
Oil for June delivery tumbled 87 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $111.42 a barrel at 10:15 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures have risen 31 percent in the past year.
Brent crude oil for June settlement fell 94 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $123.05 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Most European countries have a public holiday today for Easter Monday. Read the rest of this entry »
Six Ways to Improve Your Chances of Getting a Mortgage
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Banks on Апрель 4th, 2011
Remember how Spring was always the home-buying season? Don’t count on that happening this year and you can point the finger, at least in part, at the new lending hoops buyers must jump through. According to MortgageMatch.com, one out of three home buyers will fail to get a mortgage this spring.
Understanding the mortgage process and meeting lenders’ more stringent qualification requirements have become big obstacles for applicants, according to a survey the site conducted. Most recent home buyers — 70% — described the mortgaging process as more difficult than they expected. And those who bought homes during the bubble years, when mortgage loans were given out like candy at Halloween, are especially shell-shocked by the new lending standards.
One of the biggest problems home buyers run into today concern their credit scores and how, in general, they don’t work to improve them before applying for a loan. In the same vein, a recent Fannie Mae survey found that poor credit was the top reason that renters gave for not buying a home.
(Following closely behind poor credit was the self-awareness that they couldn’t actually afford to buy or keep up a home and the perception that now is not really a good time to buy. Hooray for enlightenment on the first point, but with home prices back to 2002 levels and interest rates among the lowest ever seen, how isn’t this a good time to buy?) Read the rest of this entry »
The Real Reason Gas Prices Are Soaring
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Trading Markets on Март 31st, 2011
Have you ever wondered why when you go to the gas station to fill up the family car, the price of gas at the pump has just jumped 25 cents a gallon over the past three days? Perhaps you thought the oil companies were just being greedy. Or you believed the nightly news pundit who said that gas prices went up because the crisis in Libya was affecting supplies of oil. One professional oil trader says that you’d be wrong on both counts.
Dan Dicker, who has spent nearly three decades in the oil market, has a profoundly disturbing explanation of why the price of oil, and the gasoline that comes from the crude product, has risen so dramatically in recent months. It turns out, Dicker says, that the price has nothing to do with supply and demand for oil. It’s the financial market for oil, filled with both professional speculators and amateur investors betting on poorly understood oil exchange-traded funds, who have ratcheted up the price of gas to such sky high levels.
«There is no supply issue going on here — what you have is the perception of the possibility of a supply issue,» Dicker says. «A whole bunch of people are pouring money into an oil market trying to take advantage of what they perceive to be a real risk in supply. It’s a marketplace that I argue should not be allowed to be wagered on like a stock or bond.»
Dicker notes that Libya produces only 1.3 million barrels of oil a day, just a tiny fraction of the world oil market. Even if Libyan crude were lost to the world market in the current turmoil, and there is no sign that it is, Saudi Arabia has 5 million barrels a day to use in case of an emergency. Read the rest of this entry »
Vodka: Quality Without the Cost?
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Budget on Март 25th, 2011
Let’s talk alcohol: After all, it’s 5 p.m. somewhere, right? Over the past decade, the popularity of super-premium spirits has exploded, catering to a new breed of high-end cocktails in many watering holes.
“There has been a significant increase in consumers buying better quality products, almost across the board in all the various categories of spirits,” says Frank Coleman senior vice president of Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS).
As the sting of the recession dulls, demand for top-of-the-line goods is increasing to pre-crisis levels. For spirits, super premium categories have experienced double-digit growth in 2010 — Irish whiskey sales rose 30% from the previous year, while scotch single malt was up 17.8% and vodka rose 13.8%, according to DISCUS data.
“There’s an overall trend in consumer consumption patterns for all types of products, whether you’re talking about coffee, spirits or women’s purses. In general, in the mature markets around the world, the consumer demand is for luxury goods,” says Coleman.
But is that $22 martini featuring your favorite luxe-grade vodka worth the price? Can consumers get quality vodka without the cost? Read the rest of this entry »
Gasoline, Heating Oil Futures Gain on Airstrikes Against Libya
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Investing on Март 22nd, 2011
Gasoline and heating oil gained as airstrikes against Libyan military targets boosted crude oil prices and increased concerns about supply disruptions.
Futures advanced after the U.S., U.K. and French officials said missile and aircraft strikes have grounded Muammar Qaddafi’s air force and coalition members debated how far they can take military action against his regime. Futures also gained as government forces killed protesters in Syria and Yemen, indicating regional unrest is spreading.
“The market is reacting to the upside on oil on the concerns in the Middle East,” said Phil Flynn, vice president of research at PFGBest in Chicago. Libya is the headline everyone is talking about, but it’s also Syria and Yemen that keep the risks high.”
Gasoline futures for April delivery added 3.69 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $2.9863 a gallon at 1:37 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Libyan oil production halted by the country’s civil war is likely to remain suspended the rest of 2011, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Barclays Plc. Oil supplies from Africa’s third-largest producer collapsed from 1.6 million barrels a day in January to a “trickle” as of last week and may be halted for months because of international sanctions, the International Energy Agency estimates. Read the rest of this entry »
Why inflation hurts more than it did 30 years ago
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Budget on Март 21st, 2011
Inflation spooked the nation in the early 1980s. It surged and kept rising until it topped 13 percent. These days, inflation is much lower. Yet to many Americans, it feels worse now. And for a good reason: Their income has been even flatter than inflation.
Back in the ‘80’s, the money people made typically more than made up for high inflation. In 1981, banks would pay nearly 16 percent on a six-month CD. And workers typically got pay raises to match their higher living costs. No more.
Over the 12 months that ended in February, consumer prices increased just 2.1 percent. Yet wages for many people have risen even less — if they’re not actually frozen. Social Security recipients have gone two straight years with no increase in benefits. Money market rates? You need a magnifying glass to find them.
That’s why even moderate inflation hurts more now. And it’s why if food and gas prices lift inflation even slightly above current rates, consumer spending could weaken and slow the economy.
Consumer inflation did pick up in February, rising 0.5 percent, because of costlier food and gas. Still, looked at over the past 12 months, price increases have remained low. Problem is, these days any inflation tends to hurt. Read the rest of this entry »
Is the Newest iPad Worth It?
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Budget, Favourites on Март 16th, 2011
The newest iPad is thinner, faster and adds not one but two cameras. But as Apple ( AAPL: 351.99, +5.32, +1.53% ) CEO Steve Jobs extolled the device’s newest features today, many consumers had only one real question: Should I buy one?
One thing is for certain: Tablet fever doesn’t seem to be going away. Apple already sold the lion’s share of tablets last year, some 15 million overall — approximately 85% of the tablet market — which generated $9.5 billion in revenue for the company. This year, dozens of competitors are expected to debut competing tablet computers, and tablet sales across the board are expected to triple. Samsung and Motorola Mobility ( MMI: 25.36, +0.15, +0.59% ) tablets are already available; devices from Research in Motion ( RIMM: 63.38, +0.78, +1.24% ) , HP and HTC are anticipated later this year.
With such a considerable head start, the iPad is still the tablet to beat, analysts say. «They’re raising the bar for everyone else,» says Joseph Beaulieu, an equity analyst for Morningstar. The competitors have yet to build something that’s as easy to use, speedy, and good-looking, critics say. Plus, the also-rans aren’t cheaper: The big names already on the market range from $500 (also the price of the new entry-level iPad 2) to $900, depending on memory and whether you want the ability to hook up with a wireless provider. As of today, they’re all more expensive than the first-generation iPad, which now starts at $400, Apple announced today. Read the rest of this entry »
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