Free Republic

The biggest reshuffle of oil trade flows since the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s is underway—and things may never return to normal. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions on Russian oil exports are changing global oil trade routes. Over the past nearly five decades, oil flowed more or less freely from any supplier to any customer in the world, except for sanctions on Iran and Venezuela in recent years. This free energy trade is now over, after the Russian aggression and the Western sanctions that followed, plus Europe’s irreversible decision to cut off its dependence on Russian...

Britain suffered further blows to its economic standing on Monday as two top ratings agencies downgraded its sovereign credit score, judging last week's vote to leave the European Union would hurt its economy. Standard & Poor's stripped Britain of its last remaining top-notch credit rating, dropping it by two grades from "AAA" to "AA" and warning more downgrades could follow. Fitch Ratings also downgraded its ranking for Britain's creditworthiness by one notch, and similarly said more cuts could follow. The ratings agencies effectively added a rubber stamp to the market's view of the Brexit vote, as sterling tanked to a...

Illinois' budget war took another whack out of the state's credit rating today as Moody's Investors Service lowered its review of state debt, moving it to Baa1 from A3. And the firm said its outlook on the state is negative—often a sign that another downgrade is coming in a few months. "The downgrades reflect weakening of the state's financial position during 2015 and our expectation that an ongoing budget stalemate will lead to further deterioration," Moody's said in a statement. ... In bumping Illinois' debt to three levels above junk, Moody's followed the lead of Fitch Ratings, which took a...

Fitch Ratings downgraded California's general obligation bond rating Thursday due to concerns about the state's economy and ongoing budget problems, likely raising costs for taxpayers and dampening demand for $4 billion in bonds the state intends to sell next week. California's bond rating now ranks lowest among the 50 states, according to Fitch. The announcement came days before State Treasurer Bill Lockyer plans a bond sale starting next Wednesday to replenish the state's Pooled Money Investment Account and enable the state to begin paying out $500 million to projects that desperately need public funding to continue. Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar...