A monthly Energy Department report said demand for finished petroleum products dropped 8.5% in February from January — to 573,677 million barrels from 623,545 million barrels — and demand for gasoline fell by 6.2%, to 256,422 million barrels from 273,235 million barrels in January.
News articles have said (and I’m quoting from one): “Though [...]
From the monthly archives:
April 2008
For being the second largest economy in the world, our Asia Stock Alert portfolio has been very light with Japanese holdings (Nintendo and Komatsu).
The reason is simple: Japan has been mired in a deflationary spiral.
The latest government stats about Japanese household spending confirm the same. The average Japanese household spent 1.6% less [...]
OPEC warns Oil Could Reach $200 Chakib Khelil, president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, blamed the falling value of the US dollar, which makes other assets, including oil, more attractive for foreign investors.
Of course, this is old news to you, if you read my Money and Markets column: Oil Tops $119! [...]
Soaring oil prices are affecting demand in the U.S. but it hasn’t affected Chinese consumption one bit.
Chinese consumption of oil and gasoline hit record highs in the first quarter of this year.
According to the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association, Chinese consumption of oil products (gasoline, diesel and kerosene) increased by [...]
I have been saying that the China growth story still has a long, long ways to go and that we are only in the 3rd or 4th inning of a very profitable ball game.
I expect the Chinese stock market to mirror the growth of its Hong Kong market cousin. In 1973, the Hang [...]
The news flow for the Beijing Olympics is going to really pick up because we are now just 100 days from the start of the Beijing Olympics.
Will that news flow translate into higher stock market prices? Yes!
I knew something funny was going on when Costco placed limits on how much rice their customers could buy. People are starting to hoard rice and pushing the price higher.
Some countries — like Vietnam, Senegal, and the Philippines — have taken extreme measures to curb speculation. Vietnam, the second largest exporter of rice [...]
Every quarter, the Census Bureau releases a broad snapshot of the U.S. housing industry — specifically, it tallies up the U.S. homeownership rate and the U.S. vacancy rate (what percentage of U.S. homes are sitting empty). The latest figures for Q1 2008 show:
* The homeowner vacancy rate rose to 2.9% from 2.8% [...]
Is $4 milk and $3.60 gasoline affecting the way you spend money? For a lot of Americans, the answer is yes. Here is an excerpt from the International Herald Tribune.
In March, Americans spent less on women’s clothing (down 4.9 percent), furniture (3.1 percent), luxury goods (1.3 percent) and airline tickets (1.1 percent) compared with a [...]
Despite $203 million of subprime losses, the Bank of China reported an 85% increase in its profits.
While there are several Chinese banks listed on the NYSE and they have delivered very strong earnings…I don’t trust ‘em!
There just isn’t enough transparency and too much balance sheet hanky panky to make me comfortable. I [...]
