From EIA:
From Bloomberg today:
The US ordered another release of oil from emergency reserves — and urged European nations to do likewise — as the Trump administration grapples with fuel prices that are surging less than two months before the midterm elections.
The US will offer up to 40 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, according to a statement from the Department of Energy, in what will be the last of the nation’s 172-million-barrel contribution to the coordinated release of oil from reserves around the world since the start of the Iran war.
The pace of the recent decline is intentional, but still ominous.
We shouldn’t be planning to run out of strategic reserves, but that’s essentially what we’ve been doing. The felon-in-chief’s refusal to admit mistakes, to admit weakness, only compounds his mistakes and our weakness.
Like all of the Federal assets and programs that are meant to protect us and our future in some way, it is a hollow shell of what it was.
Ballistic missile defense? Feds are absent
DOD’s ability to defend against
Civil rights? Feds are absent
Counterintelligence? Feds are absent
Labor rights? Feds are absent
Official corruption? Feds are absent
Money laundering? Feds are absent
Regulation of “prediction” gambling? Feds are absent
Cybercurrency frauds? Feds are absent
Competitive bidding and careful vetting in Fed contracting? Feds are absent
Insider trading by Fed officials? Feds are absent
Air pollution? Feds are absent
Climate change? Feds are absent
DIsasters worsened by climate change? Feds are absent
Subjugation by Skynet? Feds are absent
Megabillionaire accountability? Feds are absent
U.S.-friendly alliances? Feds are absent
Oversight of Federal agents? Feds are absent
Safety of food supply? Feds are absent
Pandemic detection/prevention? Feds are absent
Fraudulent/exploitative consumer financial products? Feds are absent
Children’s health? Feds are absent
Support for pre-commercial research? Feds are absent
Support for the next generation of researchers? Feds are absent
This is far from the end of the list. When I look at our Fed government as it is currently being operated, I’m reminded of the Rockford Speedway Figure 8 trailer race:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93zmmhb7nxI
Fuel prices aren’t that high. Elevated, sure, but inflation adjusted…….yeah lets waste and destroy the spr over self created disasters.
“Aren’t that high” is mere opinion, and your opinion doesn’t count for much.
The idea that some 4-year-ago level of some decades-ago level is the appropriate comparison is pretty silly. A much more relevant issue is the effect this year’s increase in oil price have on budgets. How much does it matter that diesel costs 68% more today than in February?
Lava, who is probably Johnny/Connie Mary Rosh, doesn’t know how to think about oil prices, or deportations, or much of anything, but loves to pretend that he/she/whatever knows more than anyone.
Anyone who’s curious as to what Lava/Johnny/Connie/Mary Rosh thinks is fuel prices not that high, here’s diesel deflated by the CPI:
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1Z8L8
Compared to the past decade’s prices, only during a few months in the 2022-2023 period was diesel more expensive.
I am not talking about Diesel. Everyone knew a middle east war would drive that through the wazzo. But non-diesel fuel has seen worse.
ADP data for September look like BLS establishment data for August. Private jobs up 90,000, with factory and construction hiring up, along with the usual sizeable gains in education and healthcare, leisure and hospitality. Wage gains at 3.2% y/y, same as in August. That’s near the slowest pace of wage gain since 2021. There has been a slight improvement in wages for job changers in recent months.
https://adpemploymentreport.com/
https://payinsights.adp.com/?_ga=2.116959494.1007337821.1776806553-1312845895.1774389796
So all of the billionaire AI oligarchs have bent the knee to Donald Trump’ latest whim and signed an agreement renaming Artificial Intelligence to be Super Intelligence. It’s just embarrassing watching these billionaires kiss Donald Trump’s a*s. Have they no pride? What good is being a billionaire if you have to debase yourself this way in front of the whole world.
They have also signed an agreement to “voluntarily self-regulate” for safety.
Reporter: Is this a binding agreement with enforcement?
Trump: It is a morally binding agreement.
So, short answer — nope. Full speed ahead! Trump doesn’t even honor his legally binding agreements. “Sue me!”
I am sure the baking industry will take a similar deal anytime. They call banking “Trumping” and in return get to voluntarily self-regulate.
Today’s data dump has pulled the GDPNow growth estimate down to 3.7% from the prior 5.0%. Most of the change is due to a bigger estimated drag from net exports, though PCE is also revised lower. Private domestic final purchases still at a whopping 4.5%, led by PCE and equipment spending – no surprise there.
Money market futures have moved pretty sharply this week away from pricing in another Fed rate hike this year. However, pricing for mid-2027 hasn’t budged. Pricing suggests a brief delay in rate hikes, but no change in the ultimate target. That failure to change the ultimate target expectation helps explain why longer maturities are still selling off.
Of course, when the money market is this sensitive to data, the next release can change pricing just as quickly. Tomorrow brings the big ole jobs report.
According to The Atlantic, the toddler-in-chief has a scheme to ease economic sanctions on Russia in return for “deals”:
“This new initiative, which is still in its early stages and has not been previously reported, promises to advance several of Trump’s goals at once. It would help reintegrate Russia into the global economy and broaden Trump’s talks with the Kremlin beyond the intractable war in Ukraine, which his envoys have failed to end after more than a year of diplomacy. It would create a path for the U.S. to sign lucrative deals involving Russian oil, diesel, rare earth minerals, and other commodities. As a bonus, the release of prisoners on humanitarian grounds could bolster Trump’s case for his long-coveted Nobel Peace Prize.”
https://archive.is/EXhGm#selection-611.0-611.45
This plan essentially rewards Russia for its refusal to negotiate in good faith to end its war against Ukraine. The rewards on our side accrue to those blessed with deals and to the toddler’s ego. No demand for better behavior from Russia on any front is evident in what The Atlantic reports – Russia’s constant messing with European infrastructure and security, Putin’s ghoulish war against Ukraine, his refusal to renew nuclear arms limitation accords and repeated threats to use nuclear weapons would all be ignored so that the toddler-in-chief could claim to have “done something” with his buddy, Vlad.
Trump doesn’t matter. The war will end when one side wins. Its a war to death now. When Putin and his elites are killed off, then the war will end.
Oh, that Agreement on Super Intelligence signed by the oligarchs. It’s a two-page document which identifies Trump’ signature as the President of the Unites States. I kid you not.
Doesn’t exactly inspire a lot of confidence in Super Intelligence. But maybe it’s a legal trick, sort of like crossing your fingers behind your back when you make a promise.
You can see it for yourself here:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-signs-super-intelligence-document-160309716.html
Most intelligences are “super” when compared to our Idiot-in-Chief.