Thu 10 Aug 2006
After this morning’s news about a foiled terrorist plot, one would certainly expect some spasmodic behavior in the markets.? When I looked just now, I was surprised at what I found…
- Crude oil down 2.8%
- Unleaded gas down 5.2%
- Gold down 2%
- Gold stocks down 2.2%
Not so surprising, the airline stocks are down, but not by much (down less than 2% each).
I’m not a big believer in one-day price moves based on news, but the weakness in these commodities makes me wonder what is behind the moves.? My guess is that some speculative money wanted to take profits in these areas and re-deploy their capital based on today’s news? Maybe just people scaling back speculative positions to see what happens over the next few days?
August 10th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
Strafor put it best, and I’ll quote them here: “The Sept. 11 attack changed the world. The Madrid train attacks changed a government. This failed airliner attack only succeeded in closing an airport temporarily.”
I think we’ve adjusted to the new world view that involves multiple wars in tense areas and the persistent threat of terrorism. It’s all becoming background noise now…
August 10th, 2006 at 4:33 pm
If it is just background noise, why such sizable moves in crude and gas? The news about Prudhoe is getting worse, rumors that they might open the SPR might cause some drop in prices…
Reuters is claiming a drop in air traffic could decrease demand for oil, but jet fuel is only 5-6% of oil usage (IIRC).
Like I said before… Bizarre.