1.97 per gallon for #2 here in upstate NY 60 miles north of DeBlasio City.
Just reading about E/P company PostRock in Oklahoma.
Stock and holdings values going negative...
Political economists can ruminate as long as they wish, government officials can fudge data and statistics all day long and stock traders will do what they do regardless. However the true measure of the economy is the price and demand for commodities. If people are actually making things then there will be a demand for the oil, aluminum, steel, lumber, copper and other materials that are needed. The price will be steady or rising largely based on demand. If demand is low then there is less mining, cutting, and refining. Commodity demand and prices are weak. Currently there is a worldwide economic contraction.
The world economy grew over the last twenty five years. When Russia ,China and India largely ditched socialism, hundreds of millions of people entered the middle classes and created a demand for the production of real goods. The innovations in electronics (computers, cell phones and other telecommunications technology) greatly stimulated growth. Yet these vast social changes may have stalled,and the innovations have run their course. Excessive debt in the West, political turmoil in the Mideast, economic stagnation and regression in Africa, have staled not only growth but have spawned economic contractions.
The real story of the economy is told in commodity prices.