CommStock Israel Investor
Insights Newsletter
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
The following report has been prepared as a courtesy
to clients of CommStock Trading Ltd. for general informational
purposes only and is not intended to, and should not, be construed
as any recommendation or advice for any specific investment decisions.
1) Oil settles below $70
Crude futures retreat after a government
report shows a larger-than-expected increase in gasoline supplies.
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Oil prices fell a dollar Friday,
pulled lower by a sell-off in the gasoline market as dealers bet
there would ample fuel supply in the United States to meet demand
from summer vacationers.
Crude fell $1.82 to settle at $69.55
a barrel, led by a nearly 7-cent per gallon drop in gasoline futures.
"Gasoline is under siege here, with
the supply build after production rose last week," said Andy Lebow,
broker at MF Global in New York.
U.S. gasoline supplies rose unexpectedly
last week as refiners boosted output to prepare for an expected
seasonal uptick in demand, according to government data issued
Wednesday.
Experts have been mixed on how strong
consumption for the motor fuel will be this summer as the effects
of the recession counter-balance relatively low prices at the pumps.
The U.S. Transportation Department
said on Friday Americans drove more miles in April than they did
a year earlier, marking the first monthly rise in U.S. highway
travel in more than a year.
Oil prices had been in positive territory
earlier in the day as rebel attacks in Nigeria hit output from
the OPEC-member country and economic optimism propelled equities
markets higher.
Nigeria's main militant group MEND
said it had attacked a pipeline operated by Italy's Agip, close
on the heels of previous attacks on facilities operated by Royal
Dutch Shell and Chevron. Together, the attacks have cut at least
133,000 barrels of daily output.
Rebels in Nigeria, the world's seventh-largest
oil exporter, have been carrying out attacks on the oil industry
for years in what they claim is a struggle aimed at spreading the
region's energy wealth to the poor local communities.
Oil prices also got some support from
political turmoil in Iran, the world's fifth largest exporter,
in the wake of its presidential election.
"We will see support continue to come
from Iran and Nigeria. There is no immediate supply threat from
Iran but in Nigeria, (there) is an actual physical disruption," oil
analyst Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix said.
Oil prices have nearly doubled since
February on signs of a potential economic recovery but the pace
of the rally has sparked concerns prices are not well supported
by fundamentals.
2) Commentary by David
Zwebner, CEO of CommStock Trading
U.S. Economy
The U.S. economy has shown some positive signs lately (yesterday's
news, for example), but aren't we still a long way from the Federal
Reserve raising short-term rates? The Federal Reserve meets for
two days starting on Tuesday, the 23rd. The June 2010 eurodollars
finished up .085 at 98.225.
Grains and Cotton
With the USDA's acreage report just eleven days away, many are
guessing that corn acres were shifted to soybeans due to wet
conditions at planting time. Or were they? December corn tried
to trade higher, but fell 4.25 cents to $4.195. November soybeans
closed down 37.5 cents at $10.06.
Coffee
Yesterday, the International Coffee Organization reduced its estimate
of 2008-2009 world coffee production from "around 127" to "around
126 million bags." It did not seem to help prices much as September
coffee closed down 3.15 cents at $1.1970, the lowest close in
seven weeks.
Energies
Militants in Nigeria blew up a Shell oil pipeline on Wednesday
and now claim to have blown up another pipeline. August crude
oil dropped $1.89 to $70.02 with ongoing concerns about world
demand.
Metals
A slow economy and low inflation isn't what gold-buyers had in
mind when they pictured "hyper-inflation." August gold ended
up $1.60 at $936.20.
Currencies
Statistics Canada said that retail sales were down .8% in April
at C$33.5 billion and weaker than expected after three months
of positive gains. The automotive sector was the hardest hit.
The September Canadian dollar closed down 1.10 cents at 88.19.
.David Zwebner, CEO
CommStock Trading Ltd.
Tel: +972-(0)2 624-4963
Fax: +972-(0)2 624-4876
www.ecommstock.com
|
