commodities – Stock Market Research, Option Picks, Stock Picks,Financial News,Option Research

May 26, 2023

Rig Counts declined last week!

Baker Hughes reports U.S. rig count down 9 to 711 rigs.

Baker Hughes (BKR) reports that the U.S. rig count is down 9 from last week to 711 with oil rigs down 5 to 570, gas rigs down 4 to 137 and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 4.

The U.S. Rig Count is down 16 rigs from last year’s count of 727 with oil rigs down 4, gas rigs down 14 and miscellaneous up 2.

The international offshore rig count for April 2018 was 194. Stockwinners

The U.S. Offshore Rig Count is down 1 to 20, up 4 year-over-year.

The Canada Rig Count is up 2 from last week to 87, with oil rigs up 3 to 42, gas rigs down 1 to 45.

The Canada Rig Count is down 16 rigs from last year’s count of 103 with oil down 13, gas rigs down 3.

The Baker Hughes rig counts are counts of the number of drilling rigs actively exploring for or developing oil or natural gas in the U.S., Canada and international markets.

The Company has issued the rig counts as a service to the petroleum industry since 1944, when Hughes Tool Company began weekly counts of the U.S. and Canadian drilling activity. The monthly international rig count was initiated in 1975.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is up $1.08 to $72.86 per barrel (52 weeks high of $122.10). Brent crude is up $1.07 to $77.12 per barre (52 weeks high of $123.58). Gasoline last traded at $2.702 per gallon (52 weeks high of $4.31 per gallon).

To read timely stories similar to this, along with money making trade ideas, sign up for a membership to Stockwinners.

STOCKWINNERS

This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.

July 13, 2022

Beige Book says housing is slowing amid high inflation

Fed’s Beige Book reiterated the economy expanded at a moderate pace

Fed’s Beige Book reiterated the economy expanded at a moderate pace.

But there was a big “however,” something the Fed typically does not express:

“several Districts reported grow signs of a slowdown in demand, and contacts in five Districts noted concerns over an increased risk of a recession.”

Most Districts reported moderation in consumer spending as higher food and gas prices diminished households’ discretionary income.

Auto sales were sluggish with low inventories still impacting.

Leisure travel was “healthy.” Manufacturing was mixed. Non-financial services firms saw stable to slightly higher demand. Housing demand weakened.

As in the prior report, the outlook for future economic growth was mostly negative.

Employment generally continued to rise at a moderate pace and conditions were tight overall.

But there was some sign of modest improvement in labor availability.

Most Districts reported wage growth.

“Substantial” price increases were reported across all Districts, at all stages of consumption, with food, commodities, and energy (particularly fuel) cost remaining “significant.”

There was some moderation in construction materials.

Pricing power was steady, but firms in some sectors like travel and hospitality, were able to pass through sizeable increases to consumers. That is seen persisting through the year.

STOCKWINNERS

To read timely stories similar to this, along with money making trade ideas, sign up for a membership to Stockwinners.

October 11, 2021

Exxon gets into plastic recycling!

Exxon Mobil announces plans to build plastic waste recycling facility

Exxon Mobil (XOM) plans to build its first, large-scale plastic waste advanced recycling facility in Baytown, Texas, and is expected to start operations by year-end 2022.

A smaller, temporary facility, is already operational and producing commercial volumes of certified circular polymers that will be marketed by the end of this year to meet growing demand.

The new facility follows validation of Exxon Mobil’s initial trial of its proprietary process for converting plastic waste into raw materials.

“We’ve proven our proprietary advanced recycling technology in Baytown, and we’re scaling up operations to supply certified circular polymers by year-end,” said Karen McKee, president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company. “Availability of reliable advanced recycling capacity will play an important role in helping address plastic waste in the environment, and we are evaluating wide-scale deployment in other locations around the world.”

To date, the trial has successfully recycled more than 1,000 metric tons of plastic waste, the equivalent of 200M grocery bags, and has demonstrated the capability of processing 50 metric tons per day.

Upon completion of the large-scale facility, the operation in Baytown will be among North America’s largest plastic waste recycling facilities and will have an initial planned capacity to recycle 30,000 metric tons of plastic waste per year.

Operational capacity could be expanded quickly if effective policy and regulations that recognize the lifecycle benefits of advanced recycling are implemented for residential and industrial plastic waste collection and sorting systems.

ExxonMobil is developing plans to build approximately 500,000 metric tons of advanced recycling capacity globally over the next five years.

In Europe, the company is collaborating with Plastic Energy on an advanced recycling plant in Notre Dame de Gravenchon, France, which is expected to process 25,000 metric tons of plastic waste per year when it starts up in 2023, with the potential for further expansion to 33,000 metric tons of annual capacity.

The company is also assessing sites in the Netherlands, the U.S. Gulf Coast, Canada, and Singapore.

STOCKWINNERS

To read timely stories similar to this, along with money making trade ideas, sign up for a membership to Stockwinners.

July 22, 2021

ECB sets a two percent target for inflation

ECB keeps key interest rates unchanged, revises forward guidance on rates

The ECB said: “In its recent strategy review, the Governing Council agreed a symmetric inflation target of two per cent over the medium term.

The key ECB interest rates have been close to their lower bound for some time and the medium-term outlook for inflation is still well below the Governing Council’s target.

In these conditions, the Governing Council today revised its forward guidance on interest rates. It did so to underline its commitment to maintain a persistently accommodative monetary policy stance to meet its inflation target.

In support of its symmetric two per cent inflation target and in line with its monetary policy strategy, the Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present or lower levels until it sees inflation reaching two per cent well ahead of the end of its projection horizon and durably for the rest of the projection horizon, and it judges that realized progress in underlying inflation is sufficiently advanced to be consistent with inflation stabilizing at two per cent over the medium term.

This may also imply a transitory period in which inflation is moderately above target.

Having confirmed its June assessment of financing conditions and the inflation outlook, the Governing Council continues to expect purchases under the pandemic emergency purchase program – PEPP – over the current quarter to be conducted at a significantly higher pace than during the first months of the year…

The interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.50% respectively.”

STOCKWINNERS

To read timely stories similar to this, along with money making trade ideas, sign up for a membership to Stockwinners.

May 28, 2021

Rig Counts Continue to Rise!

Baker Hughes reports U.S. rig count up 2 to 457 rigs

Baker Hughes (BKR) reports that the U.S. rig count is up 2 from last week to 457 with oil rigs up 3 to 359, gas rigs down 1 to 98, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 0.

U.S. Rig Count is up 156 rigs from last year’s count of 301, with oil rigs up 137 gas rigs up 21 and miscellaneous rigs down 2.

The U.S. Offshore Rig Count is unchanged at 14, up 2 year-over-year.

The Canada Rig Count is up 4 from last week to 62, with oil rigs up 3 to 28, gas rigs up 1 to 34.

The Canada Rig Count is up 42 rigs from last year’s count of 20, with oil rigs up 21, gas rigs up 21.

The Baker Hughes rig counts are counts of the number of drilling rigs actively exploring for or developing oil or natural gas in the U.S., Canada and international markets.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is up a penny to $66.86 per barrel. Brent crude is up $0.14 to $69.34 per barrel. Gasoline last traded at $2.17 per gallon up a penny.

STOCKWINNERS

To read timely stories similar to this, along with money making trade ideas, sign up for a membership to Stockwinners.