Entries from Chemicals & The Economy tagged with 'brent'
Commodities supercycle myth enters the end-game
If something seems to be 'too good to be true', then it usually is. This may be the learning for the world's largest pension funds, as they plan their next moves in commodity investment. Their involvement jumped from 2009 after...
High oil prices hit retail spending
Brent oil prices have just finished a record sequence of 240 days above $100/bbl. This was longer than the 170 days in 2008. And longer, on an inflation-adjusted basis, than in any previous period of high oil prices. In Europe,...
The oil/natural gas ratio goes parabolic
Parabolic price movements are great fun whilst they last. The dot.com technology stock boom was a great example, when prices would jump 1% or 2% a day towards its end. And then, sadly, it all collapsed. The NASDAQ technology index...
Financial markets party whilst petchems remain weak
Financial markets continued their start of quarter rally last week. But their volatility amazes even seasoned observers. The US Dow Jones Index has moved at least 100 points in 57 of the last 58 days, for example, whilst crude oil...
Groundhog Day again as Quarter 4 starts
The great film comedy Groundhog Day saw Bill Murray doomed to repeat the same day in his life, until he learnt to become a better person. Sadly, financial markets have yet to learn from his example. Every quarter, the investment...
'Computers say buy....sell....buy....sell...'
Petchem markets are continuing to act as leading indicators for the global economy. The IeC Downturn Alert shows there was no September rebound in orders after the holiday period. October will have to bring a sudden, and powerful reversal of...
Time for leadership at EPCA
The chemical industry has a turnover of $3.4trn, and is the world's 3rd largest industry. It matters to the global economy. Many of its leaders are about to meet next weekend in Berlin for the annual European Petrochemical Association (EPCA)...
Brent's premium to WTI hits Europe's energy users
Europe is at the eye of the storm when it comes to energy pricing. This is the last thing required by its struggling economy. As the chart shows, Brent in euros (green line, RHS) is now back at the same...
OECD warns economic growth "close to a halt"
The IeC Downturn Alert has hopefully done the job for which it was intended. It was launched at the end of April, when the blog became convinced that the global economy was highly likely to enter a new downturn. It...
September key for wider economic outlook
Chemical markets are traditionally 6 months ahead of the wider economy, as they are so focused on consumer demand. September may therefore provide a 'moment of truth' for the IeC Downturn Alert, launched in April: • The petchems downturn since...
High Frequency Trading dominates as markets crash
The blog was almost alone at the end of April, when it launched the IeC Downturn Alert. Today, its fear that we are close to a global downturn has become mainstream. As the American Chemistry Council report, "fears of another...
US GDP still below 2007 levels
On Friday, the US government announced that GDP grew just 0.8% in H1. This, of course, was far below the US Federal Reserve's confident estimate of 3.5-4% for 2011, given only 4 months ago in March. We are indeed in...
Downturn Alert shows markets still weakening
The IeC Downturn Alert launched on 2 May. Later that day, the US S&P 500 - the world's most important stock index - hit a post-Crisis high of 1370. Last Friday, it closed down 7% at 1268 (purple dotted line...
High stocks lead buyers to hold back purchases
Buyers' behaviour has changed completely since the IeC Downturn Alert launched 7 weeks ago. ICIS news reported Friday a large polypropylene consumer commenting: "I am not buying a lot, just one or two trucks at a time. I kept a...
Markets down 9% - 15% since Downturn Alert began
When the blog launched its IeC Downturn Alert in early May, it noted that "they don't ring bells at market turning points". However, it hoped that the Alert would provide a replacement. It seems to be doing its job. As...
Downturn Alert shows prices keep falling
It is now 4 weeks since the blog launched its IeC Downturn Alert. Since then, as the chart shows (based on ICIS pricing reports): • Brent (blue dotted line) is down 11% • Naphtha (red) is down 13% in Europe...
ExxonMobil suggests $60-$70/bbl oil
The CEO of ExxonMobil, Rex Tillerson, has provided powerful support for the blog's long-held view that oil prices are well out of line with fundamentals. He told the US Senate that: "If you said: 'If I had access to the...
Aromatics markets stumble
The aromatics market is a very liquid market compared to other chemical markets. It is an excellent leading indicator for industry pricing and volume trends, and forecast the current rally in April 2009. The chart above shows how Brent crude...
Super-computers party, as energy markets trade at record ratios
Something very strange has been happening to US energy prices over the past 2 years. The chart above shows the ratio between WTI crude oil pricing and natural gas: • It was between 6.0 and 13.0 for 22 years between...
Mubarak's departure may weaken oil prices
History doesn't repeat, but it sometimes rhymes. That was the insight of the famed American writer, Mark Twain. 2 weeks ago, this led the blog to highlight the similarities between the geo-political concerns then developing in Egypt, and the Israel/Iran...
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