Category: General

U.S. unemployment aid applications jump to 385,000

Posted on by The INO.com Team

The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid rose to a four-month high last week, although the increase partly reflects seasonal distortions around the spring holidays.

Weekly applications increased 28,000 to a seasonally adjusted 385,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the third straight weekly increase and the highest level since late November. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose to 354,250.

A Labor Department spokesman says it can be difficult to seasonally adjust the figures during the Easter holiday because the timing of the holiday varies from year to year. Economists warned before the report that the data could be volatile.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs. The recent increases could suggest that companies are cutting jobs, possibly because of steep government spending cuts that began on March 1. Other reports have pointed to that possible trend, although most economists have said that any reductions are likely temporary. Continue reading "U.S. unemployment aid applications jump to 385,000" →

Bullish on Oil Prices? Two Reasons You Might Change Your Mind

Posted on by admin

The Energy Report: Marshall, before the Great Recession hit, we appeared to be on target for $150 per barrel ($150/bbl) Brent in mid-2008, and we were hearing forecasts of $200/bbl before the end of that year. But things have changed. I'd really like to get your fix on how you perceive energy markets have been altered over the past five years.

Marshall Adkins: For the oil market specifically, two massive structural changes have occurred since 2008. First, U.S. oil supply from horizontal drilling in tight shale formations has created a reversal of the four decade-long decline we've seen in U.S. oil production. When I say reversal, I'm not just talking a minor blip; I'm talking about erasing a 40-year decline within five years. This truly is a massive structural change to U.S. oil markets.

On top of that, in conjunction with the Great Recession, the world has figured out that there's too much debt, and most of the developed world is going through a deleveraging period. Historically, whenever you deleverage, you get subpar economic growth, and subpar oil demand growth. For the past five years, we've seen significantly lower demand growth for oil compared to the prior two decades. I expect that to continue, and I expect U.S. oil production to continue marching higher. Continue reading "Bullish on Oil Prices? Two Reasons You Might Change Your Mind" →

The Best Way to Invest in the "Oil of the 21st Century"

Posted on by admin

The United States alone consumes 18.9 million barrels of oil every day, rain or shine. And China's appetite grows more ravenous by the minute, with daily consumption doubling from 5.5 million barrels in 2003 to nearly 9.8 million in 2011.

Aside from a brief downturn during the recession, global oil consumption has been moving inexorably higher.

Worldwide oil consumption passed its pre-recession 2007 peak in 2010 and continues to rise. It is projected to reach 90.2 million barrels per day this year. Meanwhile, the world's oil companies will only produce 90 million barrels per day.

In other words, demand will outstrip supply by 200,000 barrels per day, or by about 73 million barrels this year. Continue reading "The Best Way to Invest in the "Oil of the 21st Century"" →

Stocks fall after weak reports on hiring, services

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Stocks fell in early trading on Wall Street Wednesday after weak reports on hiring and growth at service companies dampened the outlook for the U.S. economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 64 points, or 0.4 percent, to 14,595 as of 11:14 a.m. EDT. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 10 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,560 points. Both indexes closed at record highs the day before.

U.S. service companies kept growing at a solid pace in March, but the expansion was less than economists were expecting. The Institute for Supply Management's index of service companies fell to 54.4 from 56 a month earlier. The report was the weakest in seven months and fell short of what analysts were expecting.

Separately, payrolls processor ADP reported that U.S. employers added 158,000 jobs last month, down from February's gain of 237,000, as construction firms held off on hiring. The ADP report is often seen as a preview for the government's broader survey on employment, which is due out Friday. Continue reading "Stocks fall after weak reports on hiring, services" →

Follow the Smart Money to Undervalued Miners

Posted on by admin

The Gold Report: Gold recently witnessed some upside price support after the Cypriot parliament proposed taking money from private bank accounts to raise the 5.8 billion needed to qualify for an international bailout. What was your first reaction to that news?

Jeb Handwerger: Any confiscation of bank accounts would just highlight what I have been saying for a long timesavers are losing money in their banks. Bank deposits are supposed to be a safe haven. Investors are going to seek out alternative hedges against the deterioration of currency and financial repression worldwide. This isn't just happening in Cyprus, but all over the world where there are citizens losing money in their banks and are experiencing negative real rates. Investors need to look for the assets that will protect and grow their wealth in case public policies continue to destroy wealth and savings.

TGR: How does this differ from what happened in Greece? Continue reading "Follow the Smart Money to Undervalued Miners" →