Crude oil rose above $70 a barrel and gasoline climbed to an eight-month high as the dollar fell, bolstering the appeal of energy as an alternative investment.
Oil advanced 2.8 percent as rising stock prices reduced the need for holding the U.S. currency as an inflation hedge. The U.S. Energy Department will probably report tomorrow that refiners boosted operating rates to meet summer gasoline demand, according to a Bloomberg News survey.
Crude oil for July delivery gained $1.92 to $70.01 a barrel at 2:51 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since Nov. 4. Prices have risen 57 percent this year.
Gasoline for July delivery rose 3.07 cents, or 1.6 percent, to end the session at $1.9667 a gallon in New York. It was the highest settlement since Oct. 9.
Regular gasoline at the pump, averaged nationwide, will cost $2.47 a gallon from April through September, the Energy Department said today in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook. The retail price forecast is down from $3.81 a gallon last summer and up from $2.21 estimated last month.
(Bloomberg.com)
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3 Responses
nice going President Obama. You really got the Saudis to drop the price of crude to help the economy. Still bragging that the economy is about to take off and a 100,000 new jobs are about to be created.The man lives in lala land.
1,
It was Osama Obama who said he WASNT UPSET about the FOUR DOLLARS PER GALLON OF GAS, he only wished it didnt jump that fast.
FYI — Gas on the Garden State Parkway and the NJ Turnpike is $2.39/gallon for regular thru Thurs midnight.
Except that rising oil prices result in rising gas prices, which has a depressing effect on the economy, and Obama’s fiscal policies (massive deficits paid for by printing money in record breaking amounts) will depress the dollar internationally, causing further increases in oil prices (offsetting falling demand in the short term).
Whether that makes oil a good investment is questionable, since at a certain point falling demand in the US will force the price lower. One has to be able to “time” the complex fluctuations, which in the past has proven very hard to do.