Oil back below $88 on Monday

Chris Shunk — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:58:00 EST

Simply put, the U.S. economy is in the crapper. Stocks are yoyoing and our mortgages are a fraction of what they were even a year ago. For all that's fiscally wrong here in the States, there is one pleasant side effect: the price of a barrel of oil is dropping faster than Kimbo Slice against a two bit hack. Oil dropped 6% in trading on Monday, bringing down the price of a barrel of crude to $87.81. Black Gold has been on a downward trajectory since July 11, when it peaked at $147 per barrel. Since then, demand has weakened both in the U.S. and China, with demand slacking so badly that the Communist government hasn't purchased any oil in two months, and it's even selling some of its stockpiles.

While demand for oil is down to where it was eight months ago, OPEC is watching with a wary eye. The oil consortium, which on several occasions has increased oil production over the past year, is likely to slash production when it meets again in December. In the short term, industry experts are predicting that gas prices will drop below the $3 mark by November 1, which will make for one piece of good news in an otherwise lousy news cycle.

[Source: Reuters]

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Obama calls GM a "sobering reminder" of U.S. economy woes

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:01:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, GM, Earnings/Financials

A quick glance at today's announcements from America's largest automaker is an easy indicator that the U.S. auto market, at the very least, is under as strong as recession as could be imagined. According to Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, the entire industry as a whole is facing a "perfect storm" of "record gas prices, rising steel prices, a credit market contraction that has made it more difficult for consumers to purchase autos, and a weakening economy that has shed jobs for six straight months."

As the auto industry goes, so go the livelihoods of countless workers -- both directly employed by the Detroit 3 and indirectly supported by suppliers, dealers and the like -- making today's announcements from GM a "sobering reminder" of the current state of the U.S. economy. Still, Obama holds out hope that the right Federal policies could dig the industry out of the hole it currently finds itself in. What it likely doesn't mean, though, is a bailout, according to Obama's likely opponent, John McCain, and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez.

[Sources: The Detroit Free Press, The Detroit News]

Obama calls GM a "sobering reminder" of U.S. economy woes originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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