As predicted, higher tariff rates on China were pushed off until November 10th cooling off Oil prices thus far this week. Little more bolder prediction…. PATS go 12-5 this year! Back to reality. The delay in higher rates fits nicely with the timing of the upcoming Russian-US meeting in Alaska. While the focus is primarily on a peace deal in Ukraine, expect a wide range of topics to be discussed, with the odds of a deal being struck at 50/50. Russia’s outlet for crude, and cash, is slowly getting choked out. And now, Chevron has restarted their Venezuelan operations under their special permit with their first cargos being loaded this week. With global demand on all products now predicted to be flat or slightly down over the next two years, expect OPEC to quickly unwind their production quotas in an effort to hurt US producers wallet. Could this push Crude and the refined products lower in the coming weeks? Remains to be seen but with US demand figures showing gasoline flat and diesel struggling to remain positive, it might just be the case. Core inflation ticked up slightly higher last month and most now expect a quarter point rate cut in September. There is no predicting futures markets, but there are ways to mitigate risk, reduce exposure, and smooth out the ride. We can help you do that.