So a quick rundown on what's been happening in the markets this week:
Inventories
The inventory report from the EIA for this past week pegged Crude up 5.4mmb, to its highest level for this time of year in over 80 years.
Gasoline inventories were up 3.2mmb, staying in the higher levels of the 5 year average for this time of year, and distillates were up 2.9mmb but remain in the lower half of the 5 year average range.
Markets
The stock markets across the globe went crazy today after the Swiss pulled a surprise move and removed the cap on the swiss franc (the cap keeps the franc artificially low versus other currencies), sending the Euro markets into chaos.Back here at home, dissapointing financial sector numbers pulled stocks down as well. The S&P dragged down with energy players and Best Buys' 10.9% tumble.
The markets closed down across the board in the US,for the fifth day in a row.
The NYMEX closed down in tandem. Weak global financial data, plus the disappointing domestic bank earnings reports pushed oil down right along with stocks on a renewed concern about global demand levels in the face of oversupply.
Yesterday gas closed up over 8 cents, but today's drop erased a little over 5 cents of the gain. ULSD closed down a little over 3 cents to settle out at 1.6233, more than erasing Wednesdays gain of .0222.
Crude closed out at 46.23 (-2.23) a drop of a little over 4%.
Politics
Yet another Keystone Pipeline bill has gone through Congress, and early this week it passed the procedural hurdles required to get it onto the Senate floor. Debate is expected to continue through the week, with a potential vote on Friday.
The court case in Nebraska disputing the route of the pipeline has been settled, in theory removing the last remaining obstacle to the project moving forward.
President Obama has vowed to veto the bill, and it doesnt appear at the moment that the legislature has the votes to overturn the veto, so we shall see what happens there.
