Posted on 11/13/2015 1:57:25 PM PST by thackney
How...quaint. U.S. benchmark crude touched the $40 a barrel mark and much economic hand-wringing ensued with the Federal Reserve chief lamenting its effect on the "long-term path of the U.S. economy." Except the chief's name was Greenspan, not Yellen, and it was 11 and a half years ago.
Today oil prices threaten to push through that psychological barrier from above, not below. Despite having peaked more than 16 months ago some two-thirds higher than today, prices have yet to find a firm floor.
In fact, prices have staged a sudden reversal from what many investors had thought was a stable level: Crude has fallen 15% in just the past 10 days. Low prices should act as a sort of economic stimulus for importers and spur demand, but the opposite is happening in many emerging markets.
The latest blow was a double whammy of pronouncements from organizations literally on opposite sides of the market. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said excess inventory now exceeds what was seen in the first quarter of 2009, in the depths of a severe recession.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Even in California, it was below $1.20 during the winter ‘01~’02.
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=EMM_EPMR_PTE_SCA_DPG&f=M
That means I was knocking down pretty good coin when I was doing lawn work for $1.00/hr.
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