Does the US have any thing Europe cares to buy? <ng>
Silver? More of same, shortages, and crack-up boom behavior, this is what it looks like when you have perpetual one percent rates. Note copper today, up four cents. Go get your fresh meats, buy a freezer too, prices there have been going ballastic this week as well. I may change my mind by tomorrow about the Fed being able to avoid Flucht in die Sachwerte.
Latest on the subsistence squeeze, note Venezuela: no wonder Greenspan's pushing ARMs, consumers need to pay for all the inflation he's causing and will cause, :
Reuters
NYMEX gasoline rallies nearly 2 pct on supply worries
Thursday February 26, 2:56 pm ET
NEW YORK, Feb 26 (Reuters) - NYMEX March gasoline futures ended up 1.9 percent Thursday after hitting fresh six-month highs amid a perception of tight gasoline supplies and ahead of the contract's expiration on Friday.
Extending a sharp rally from Wednesday, NYMEX March gasoline (HUH4) last traded 2.01 cents or 1.9 percent higher at $1.0790 a gallon. The contract set a series of fresh six-month highs, with the day's last at $1.0795 being the loftiest since prompt gas hit $1.105 on Aug. 29, 2003.
April gasoline (HUJ4) recouped earlier losses and last traded up 0.15 cent at $1.1150 after setting a fresh contract peak of $1.1230.
Gasoline's bull run was sparked by government inventory data for the week to last Friday showing a larger-than-expected 1.6 million barrel drawdown, slashing supplies to a below-normal range of 203.4 million barrels.
Supplies were drawn as many U.S. refineries are still completing their winter refinery turnarounds, a seasonal activity intended to prime units to gasoline production ahead of the driving season which traditionally begins in late May.
Adding to this, recent refinery glitches, the latest of which involved the shutdown of a gasoline unit at oil major BP's (London:BP.L - News) 470,00-barrel-per-day refinery in Texas City, Texas, fueled buying of gasoline, said Ed Silliere, market analyst at Energy Merchant LLC here.
Political turbulence in Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter and a major gasoline supplier to the U.S., loomed in the background and could make the oil markets edgy, Silliere said.
Worries over Venezuela developed as opposition leaders there accused election officials on Wednesday of siding with President Hugo Chavez to wreck their bid for a recall referendum and promised to take to the streets.
Elsewhere, traffic on the Mississippi's Southwest Pass was reopened to alternating one-way traffic, easing fears of further delays in delivery of feedstock to area refineries.
Crude oil futures took a back seat to gasoline, ending lower after failure to break above resistance at $35.90-$35.95, traders said.
NYMEX April crude (CLJ4) last traded 16 cents lower at $35.52, after trading between $35.15 and $35.80, with the day's high short of the overnight peak of $35.95.
Nearby support stands at $35.00, resistance at $35.95.
Crude oil supplies were unchanged at nearly 274 million barrels in the week to last Friday, as imports fell sharply while refinery runs were down 3 percentage points to 87.3 percent of total capacity.
Meanwhile, OPEC's (News - Websites) reference price for its basket of crudes was up again on Wednesday, pushing to $30.89 from Tuesday's $30.55 as the cartel works to curb output over current quotas, ahead of its planned 1 million bpd output cut by April 1.
Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil told reporters in London on Wednesday his country was already curbing supplies by "10 percent."
Two other OPEC members, the Gulf's United Arab Emirates and the West African producer Nigeria also appeared ready to cut supplies to their customers by that magnitude by April.
When OPEC meets again March 31, member country Iraq's production may be a prime topic. Iraq's Trade Minister Ali Allawi said on Thursday the country hopes oil exports reach 2.5 million bpd in the next few months.
Iraq exported 1.6 million bpd in January from its southern oilfields, and industry sources said Thursday that the northern pipeline to Turkey from Iraq's northern production region was tested in recent days for the first time since summer.
NYMEX March heating oil (HOH4) last traded 0.91 cent higher at 94.30 cents a gallon after moving from 92.25 to 94.50 cents. Nearby resistance lurks at 95.00 cents with support at 90.00 cents. |
