The Last $.15: Winter Markets, Geopolitics, and the Final Mile

It’s always the final mile, the last yard, in our case, the last $.15 that is the toughest.  Coming off of the Holiday break, the collapse of futures has eased somewhat.  While Diesel and Gasoline futures are still falling, it is not at the drastic pace of a week ago.  I would like to think that we will get back to the mid OCT levels in the next week or so.  Strong cold the next three weeks across the Midwest and Northeast may prevent local markets from realizing these losses.  I would also assume a Russian-Ukrainian peace deal is already priced into the market, although the current 19 point, US backed deal, is stalled on both sides.  Honestly, I cant figure out what the strategy on Venezuela really is.  We don’t need the oil like Maduro wants the world to believe and removing an Autocratic regime only makes the US responsible for fixing their problems. (history tells us the we don’t have the best track record in doing this)  With the early snowfall across the Northeast passed, it’s a daily reminder to keep those tanks and fills clean and accessible.  Several areas looking at single digits in the coming week, a proper winterization plan is critical.