Monday, September 16, 2019

Lower markets after attack on Saudi's oil supply and the GM strike

Dow dropped 136, but advancers slightly ahead of decliners & NAZ was off 31.  The MLP index gained 3+ to 241 & the REIT index inched up 1+ to 401.  Junk bond funds crawled higher & Treasuries saw modest buying, bringing higher prices.  Oil surged 5+ to 60 (more below) & gold rose 8 to 1507.

AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)



CL=FCrude Oil60.16
+5.31+9.7%

GC=FGold   1,505.00
+5.50+0.4%






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Oil prices soared after a coordinated attack hit the heart of Saudi Arabia's oil industry on Sat, forcing the kingdom to cut its oil output in ½.  Brent crude futures, the interl benchmark, rose as much as 19.5% to $71.95 per barrel at the open, the biggest intraday jump on record.  In early trading, the contract was at $66.34, up $6.17 (10.3%).  US West Texas Intermediate futures climbed 15.5% to $63.34.  The contract was later at $60.25, up $5.39 or 9.8%.  An oil processing facility at Abqaiq & the nearby Khurais oil field was attacked, knocking out 5.7M barrels of daily crude production or 50% of the kingdom's oil output.  Saudi Aramco, the national oil company, reportedly aims to restore about 1/3 of its crude output (2M barrels) today.  Oil prices came off their highs after Pres Trump said he was authorizing the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to keep the markets "well-supplied."  Abqaiq is the world's largest oil processing facility & crude oil stabilization plant with a processing capacity of more than 7M barrels per day.  Khurais is the 2nd largest oil field in the country with a capacity to pump around 1.5M barrels per day.  In Aug, Saudi Arabia produced 9.85M barrels per day.

Brent crude oil spikes the most in history after Saudi attacks, last up 10%

United Auto Workers (UAW) members went on a nationwide strike against General Motors (GM) at midnight contract talks broke off yesterday.  It is the first strike against GM in 12 years.  More than 49K UAW members walked off GM factory floors or set up picket lines early today.  Talks will resume shortly as UAW continues to demand a bigger share in the company's profits, including thru annual pay raises.  UAW represents workers at 33 manufacturing sites & 22 parts warehouses across the country.  Yesterday, Pres Trump tweeted for the 2 sides to make a deal.  A leaker said that GM has offered the UAW new products for 2 assembly plants that it had planned to close.  GM says it presented what it believes was a "strong offer" including improved wages & benefits & investments in 8 facilities in 4 states.  The strike will affect GM plants in Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, New York, Texas & elsewhere in the US.  Cox Automotive calculated on Wed that GM has about a 77-day supply of cars, trucks & SUVs.  International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Pres Jim Hoffa said that  during the UAW strike.  The strike comes days after UAW official Vance Pearson was charged Thurs with corruption in an alleged scheme to embezzle union money & spend cash on premium booze, golf clubs, cigars & swanky stays in California.  UAW Pres Gary Jones is identified as one of the co-conspirators in a criminal complaint accusing Pearson of misconduct.  GM stock fell 1.20.
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ON STRIKE! UAW WORKERS WALK OUT ON GM


Pres Trump said the US is "locked and loaded" after an attack on Saudi Arabia's oil supply, but his administration is waiting on Riyadh to determine who launched the strikes before proceeding on a course of action.  "There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification," Trump tweeted.  Trump added he authorized the release of oil from the US strategic petroleum reserve to keep the market well supplied.  Attacks crippled the heart of Saudi oil production over the weekend, hitting the world's largest crude processing facility & the kingdom's second-largest oilfield. Aramco, Saudi's national oil company, was forced to cut production by 5.7M barrels per day or about 50%.  That is equivalent to about 5% of the global oil supply.  Iran has dismissed those allegations as “meaningless,” “not comprehensible” & “pointless.”  Foreign Minister Javad Zarif called on the Trump administration to hold talks.   But Trump tweeted yesterday saying: “The Fake News is saying that I am willing to meet with Iran, ‘No Conditions.’ That is an incorrect statement (as usual!).”

Trump says US 'locked and loaded' after attack on Saudi oil supply

The Dow fell for the first time in 9 trading days while oil prices soared & GM was struck by its workers.  These are 2 major problems for the economy & stock market to deal with.  The advance decline ration is positive, indicating traders are not overly worried.  Gold did not have a strong advance today   Investors will have to see how this story plays while the popular averages are still close to record highs.

Dow Jones Industrials








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