Dow pared losses to 71 (at session highs), advancers over decliners 3-2 & NAZ went up 77. The MLP index lost a fraction to the 257s. Junk bond funds fluctuated & the yield on the 10 year Treasury rose to 2.86% (not far from the important 3% level). Oil climbed in the 71s (more below) & gold shot up 17 to 1322.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif?0.39352604615434894)
US oil explorers raised the rig count to 800 for the first time in almost 3 years amid booming domestic & overseas demand for crude & petroleum-based fuels. Drillers have been accelerating exploration in an almost-unbroken streak since the beginning of Nov, vaulting American crude output to a record of more than 10M barrels a day. The unrelenting pace of expansion signals even bigger production jumps yet to come, even as concerns about excess supplies recently weighed on oil prices. Explorers boosted the number of rigs drilling for crude in US fields by 1 this week, bringing the total to 800, according to Baker Hughes. American explorers already have put the nation on par with Saudi Arabia as a crude producer and may eclipse Russia as the world's largest before the year is out. More than 70% of the rigs are concentrated in 4 four major shale regions. The Permian Basin of Texas & New Mexico is by far the dominant exploration theater with 434 rigs searching for crude. American oil exports have doubled in the past year, providing domestic drillers with access to markets that were mostly off-limits as recently as 2015, according to Energy Information Administration data. During the same 12-month period, US consumption of gasoline & other oil-derived fuels has risen almost 2%.
Oil Explorers Lift Rig Count to 800 for First Time Since 2015
Stocks attempt comeback as trade fears subside
It's getting more costly for most Americans to buy a new car or truck. Not only are vehicles getting more expensive, but so is the money needed to finance one. The average interest rate for new vehicle loans rose to 5.2% in Feb, the highest in 8 years, according to car-shopping website Edmunds. During an era of rock-bottom benchmark borrowing rates set by the Federal Reserve, car-loan rates fell as low as 3.9% in Dec 2012. The Fed began raising rates about 2 years ago & had been expected to increase them again 3 times in 2018. New Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who made his first appearance before Congress this week, appeared to suggest that 4 hikes may be needed this year, but yesterday, he stressed that the economy isn't currently overheating. Rising interest rates come at a time when demand for new vehicles is already cooling in the US. Analysts anticipate US light-vehicle sales will slide again this year amid higher used-vehicle supply & rising new-car prices. Even as the average new-car loan term has extended to more than 69 months, the monthly payment surged in Feb to $527 from $462 just 5 years earlier. “Car shoppers tend to have tunnel vision when it comes to their monthly payments,” Edmunds said. “We’re starting to see a trickle-down effect from the rate increases happening at the federal level.”
U.S. Car Loan Rates Rise to Highest in Eight Years
Oil is ending a bad week with a little bump higher as the initial panic over Pres Trump's trade wars threat eased somewhat. Futures almost 1%, erasing a morning slump & paring the weekly loss to about 3.5%. Trump tweeted that “trade wars are good, and easy to win” after announcing plans for tariffs on steel & aluminum, roiling markets across the board. But a report on US drilling showed the shale patch might be slowing down. Oil has fallen more than 8% since reaching a 3-year high close to $67 a barrel in late Jan as surging US output counters efforts by OPEC & allied producers to drain a worldwide glut. West Texas Intermediate for Apr delivery rose 15¢ to $61.14. Brent for May settlement added 35¢ to $64.18. With the Trump administration set to impose tariffs on imported steel as soon as next week, pipeline makers who use foreign metal are bracing for a price increase. Those most at-risk may be energy haulers mapping out expansions in places like the Permian Basin, an oil field beneath Texas & New Mexico that's pumping crude at record levels. In the US crude production rose to about 10.3M barrels a day last week, the highest on record, while inventories expanded to the most in about 2 months.
Bargain hunters returned later in the day. The reduced loss for the Dow cut the weekly decline to "only" 800. It could have been worse during this was a wild & highly volatile time. The Volatility Index (VLT) ended at 20, under its highs this week but almost double where it has languished during the stock market rally. The tumult related to tariff threats will not last, but the concepts of making money was easy in the stock market & buying on the dip represented common investor thinking. Those thoughts were reexamined in Feb. This is a new market & the new guys will need time to adjust..
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
US oil explorers raised the rig count to 800 for the first time in almost 3 years amid booming domestic & overseas demand for crude & petroleum-based fuels. Drillers have been accelerating exploration in an almost-unbroken streak since the beginning of Nov, vaulting American crude output to a record of more than 10M barrels a day. The unrelenting pace of expansion signals even bigger production jumps yet to come, even as concerns about excess supplies recently weighed on oil prices. Explorers boosted the number of rigs drilling for crude in US fields by 1 this week, bringing the total to 800, according to Baker Hughes. American explorers already have put the nation on par with Saudi Arabia as a crude producer and may eclipse Russia as the world's largest before the year is out. More than 70% of the rigs are concentrated in 4 four major shale regions. The Permian Basin of Texas & New Mexico is by far the dominant exploration theater with 434 rigs searching for crude. American oil exports have doubled in the past year, providing domestic drillers with access to markets that were mostly off-limits as recently as 2015, according to Energy Information Administration data. During the same 12-month period, US consumption of gasoline & other oil-derived fuels has risen almost 2%.
Oil Explorers Lift Rig Count to 800 for First Time Since 2015
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq curbed a good
portion of morning losses, while the Dow remained lower as investors
struggled to determine whether Trump's steel & aluminum tariffs could
trigger a trade war, which is viewed simply as a tax on corps. Trump's tweet earlier that stated "trade
wars are good" rocked stocks with the Dow at one point falling more
than 300 points. Steel stocks were mixed as investors gauged the
long-term impact. Trump's plan
includes a 10% tariff on imported aluminum & a 25% tariff on imported
steel. Prospects of retaliation by trading partners, including China,
the world's 2nd-largest economy, sent investors fleeing to financial
havens. Tariffs have become the latest theme to cause volatility in global financial markets.
Stocks attempt comeback as trade fears subside
It's getting more costly for most Americans to buy a new car or truck. Not only are vehicles getting more expensive, but so is the money needed to finance one. The average interest rate for new vehicle loans rose to 5.2% in Feb, the highest in 8 years, according to car-shopping website Edmunds. During an era of rock-bottom benchmark borrowing rates set by the Federal Reserve, car-loan rates fell as low as 3.9% in Dec 2012. The Fed began raising rates about 2 years ago & had been expected to increase them again 3 times in 2018. New Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who made his first appearance before Congress this week, appeared to suggest that 4 hikes may be needed this year, but yesterday, he stressed that the economy isn't currently overheating. Rising interest rates come at a time when demand for new vehicles is already cooling in the US. Analysts anticipate US light-vehicle sales will slide again this year amid higher used-vehicle supply & rising new-car prices. Even as the average new-car loan term has extended to more than 69 months, the monthly payment surged in Feb to $527 from $462 just 5 years earlier. “Car shoppers tend to have tunnel vision when it comes to their monthly payments,” Edmunds said. “We’re starting to see a trickle-down effect from the rate increases happening at the federal level.”
U.S. Car Loan Rates Rise to Highest in Eight Years
Oil is ending a bad week with a little bump higher as the initial panic over Pres Trump's trade wars threat eased somewhat. Futures almost 1%, erasing a morning slump & paring the weekly loss to about 3.5%. Trump tweeted that “trade wars are good, and easy to win” after announcing plans for tariffs on steel & aluminum, roiling markets across the board. But a report on US drilling showed the shale patch might be slowing down. Oil has fallen more than 8% since reaching a 3-year high close to $67 a barrel in late Jan as surging US output counters efforts by OPEC & allied producers to drain a worldwide glut. West Texas Intermediate for Apr delivery rose 15¢ to $61.14. Brent for May settlement added 35¢ to $64.18. With the Trump administration set to impose tariffs on imported steel as soon as next week, pipeline makers who use foreign metal are bracing for a price increase. Those most at-risk may be energy haulers mapping out expansions in places like the Permian Basin, an oil field beneath Texas & New Mexico that's pumping crude at record levels. In the US crude production rose to about 10.3M barrels a day last week, the highest on record, while inventories expanded to the most in about 2 months.
Bargain hunters returned later in the day. The reduced loss for the Dow cut the weekly decline to "only" 800. It could have been worse during this was a wild & highly volatile time. The Volatility Index (VLT) ended at 20, under its highs this week but almost double where it has languished during the stock market rally. The tumult related to tariff threats will not last, but the concepts of making money was easy in the stock market & buying on the dip represented common investor thinking. Those thoughts were reexamined in Feb. This is a new market & the new guys will need time to adjust..
Dow Jones Industrials
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