Prices at American Pumps Tick Higher Amid Volatility

Prices at U.S. gas stations have ticked upwards after two weeks of declines, with the escalating situation in the Red Sea creating significant volatility, according to GasBuddy on Monday.  National average prices rose 0.6 cents from a week ago, hitting $3.04 on Sunday, but still down 1.4 cents from a month ago and down 23.9 cents from a year ago.  The national average price for diesel in the U.S. has seen a 2-cent drop in the last week, now at $3.89 per gallon, which represents a drop of 69 cents from a year ago.  “Last week…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Prices-at-American-Pumps-Tick-Higher-Amid-Volatility.html

Russian Lukoil Refinery Incident Has Moscow Considering Gasoline Export Ban

Following an emergency stoppage at Russia’s Lukoil refinery in Nizhny Novgorod on Friday, Reuters reports via Interfax that Moscow is contemplating a ban on gasoline exports as authorities discuss ways to prevent domestic market shortages.  The NORSI refinery in Nizhny Novgorod is one of the biggest oil refineries in the country, and Monday’s unspecified incident is the third such incident since the beginning of the New Year. Stoppages affected thousands of tons per day in two separate incidents in the first week of January, according…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Russian-Lukoil-Refinery-Incident-Has-Moscow-Considering-Gasoline-Export-Ban.html

Why The U.S. is Suddenly Expanding its Claims on Ocean Seabeds

There is an iron rule of resource exploitation: Go after the easy stuff first. If you don’t, your competitors will and run you out of business with lower prices. But where do you go when the easy stuff runs out? (And the easy stuff always runs out.) The United States’ recent expanded claims to ocean seabeds signals that the easy stuff has run out or will soon. More on those claims later. The obvious answer to getting more resources is to start digging up the harder stuff. Sometimes it’s new technology that makes the harder stuff economical…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Why-The-US-is-Suddenly-Expanding-its-Claims-on-Ocean-Seabeds.html

Iran Turns to Dirty Heavy Fuel Oil amid Gas Shortage

Iran’s consumption of low-quality residual heavy fuel oil has jumped at cement factories in recent months amid natural gas shortages in the winter, a cement industry executive has told Iranian news agency ILNA.  As cement factories in the Islamic Republic have significantly reduced consumption of natural gas, they now rely mostly on the much more polluting heavy fuel oil, the so-called mazut, as a feedstock for production, Ali-Akbar Alvandian, the secretary of the Association of Employers of the Cement Industry in Iran, said.  …

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Iran-Turns-to-Dirty-Heavy-Fuel-Oil-amid-Gas-Shortage.html

Kazakhstan Looks to Close Water-Management Deal with China

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Water Resources is engaging in negotiations with China over water usage of the region’s increasingly stressed rivers. Astana has established a 20-member working group to haggle with Chinese officials over a water-distribution framework covering approximately 20 cross-border rivers, including the Irtysh and Ili. According to a ministry statement, the two states have already agreed on a number of points as of late December. A ministry representative, Nurzhan Nurzhigitov, indicated that a water-sharing mechanism…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/Asia/Kazakhstan-Looks-to-Close-Water-Management-Deal-with-China.html

Houthis Strike U.S. Merchant Vessel After Targeting Warship

Hours after targeting a U.S. warship with a cruise missile in the Red Sea, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis fired a missile and struck a U.S.-owned merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden, giving further momentum to the escalation of this conflict.  Early on Monday, the Houthis fired a missile at the Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier, the Eagle Gibraltar, hitting the port side of the vessel, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, as reported by the Associated Press.  The vessel has reported no casualties in the incident. …

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Houthis-Strike-US-Merchant-Vessel-After-Targeting-Warship.html

QatarEnergy Pauses LNG Shipments In Red Sea

The US and British bombing campaigns of Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen marks a significant intensification of the Middle East crisis. This development comes as the region is already dealing with heightened tensions due to the three-month war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, suggesting a move towards a broader regional conflict.  Shipping disruptions across the Red Sea threaten global trade after major shippers, such as Maersk and others, have rerouted vessels to the Cape of Good Hope following a series of drone and missile attacks on commercial…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/QatarEnergy-Pauses-LNG-Shipments-In-Red-Sea.html

Texans Asked to Conserve Energy as Deep Freeze Strains Grid

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is asking Texas residents and businesses to conserve electricity on Monday morning as the cold snap in the state and much of the United States is straining power supply. “ERCOT has issued a Conservation Appeal for today, Jan. 15, from 6 – 10 a.m. CT due to continued freezing temperatures, record-breaking demand, and unseasonably low wind,” the operator of the Texas grid said.   “We ask that Texas businesses and residents conserve electricity use, if safe to do so.”…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Texans-Asked-to-Conserve-Energy-as-Deep-Freeze-Strains-Grid.html

Natural Gas Is Set to Play a Major Role in the Energy Transition

Getting the world’s richest and most powerful nations to unilaterally agree to a move away from fossil fuels earned the recent COP28 summit in Dubai praise of the kind not seen since Glasgow in 2021. Decarbonization, it was officially determined, was written as the goal and though the speed and logistics of getting there remain fraught with innumerable logistical and political hurdles, the groupthink at least appeared positively green.  That may not, though, mean the end for natural gas. After all, it doesn’t carry the same collective…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Natural-Gas-Is-Set-to-Play-a-Major-Role-in-the-Energy-Transition.html

Africa’s Largest Refinery Begins Production in Nigeria

The Dangote Refinery in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest, has launched production of fuels, the Dangote Group of Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, said this weekend, marking the start-up of the refinery that has seen years of delays. “Dangote Petroleum Refinery has commenced production of diesel and aviation fuel,” the group said in a statement, adding that the new refinery is “a game changer for our country.” The Refinery can load 2,900 trucks a day at its truck-loading gantries. The products from the Refinery will…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Africas-Largest-Refinery-Begins-Production-in-Nigeria.html

A Houthi Retaliation Could Send Oil Prices Soaring

The World Bank said at the end of October that a ‘large disruption’ in the global supply of crude oil – which it equated to between 6 and 8 million barrels per day (bpd) – would result in a 56-75 percent increase in prices to between $140 and $157 a barrel. However, as analysed by OilPrice.com at the time, a significant escalation in the Israel-Hamas War could lead to a much greater loss of crude oil supplies than that, and consequently much higher oil prices than even the top of that World Bank range.…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/Middle-East/A-Houthi-Retaliation-Could-Send-Oil-Prices-Soaring.html

Poland Plans End Date for Coal Power Phase-Out

Poland’s new government signaled on Monday it would be looking to set an end date for using coal for power generation, a senior government official said. “Only with an end date we can plan and only with an end date industry can plan, people can plan. So yes, absolutely, we will be looking to set an end date,” Urszula Zielinska, the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Climate and Environment, said in Brussels on Monday, as carried by Reuters. Zielinska, who was appointed just a few weeks ago in the new Polish government, struck…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Poland-Plans-End-Date-for-Coal-Power-Phase-Out.html

Is the Texas Grid Ready for This Year’s Polar Vortex?

In what now seems an almost annual event, Texas, the Midwest, and the Deep South are anticipating another episode of extreme cold, this time starting in the third week of January. The fear initially was that this might be like 2021’s winter storm Uri which triggered a grid collapse resulting in a days long power outage and hundreds of weather-related deaths across the state. As we write, It appears that the predicted polar vortex will be more benign from a grid perspective with less ice and a deep cold spell of more limited duration. ERCOT,…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Is-the-Texas-Grid-Ready-for-This-Years-Polar-Vortex.html

Deep Freeze Cuts North Dakota Oil Production by 280,000 Bpd

Freezing temperatures have slashed North Dakota’s crude oil production by up to 280,000 barrels per day (bpd) in recent days, according to estimates from the North Dakota Pipeline Authority as of Sunday, reported by Reuters. Natural gas production in North Dakota also fell, due to the Arctic blast and frigid weather that has settled across much of the United States in recent hours.Before the dip in crude oil output this weekend, North Dakota was producing around 1.2 million bpd-1.3 million bpd of oil. The all-time high of 1.52 million bpd…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Deep-Freeze-Cuts-North-Dakota-Oil-Production-by-280000-Bpd.html

Storm Halts Oil Loadings at Russian Black Sea Port

Loadings of oil from the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk in Russia have been suspended since Sunday because of a storm in the area, disrupting export schedules once again, Reuters reported on Monday, quoting sources with knowledge of the situation. Russia had planned to load around 1.8 million tons of crude of the Urals, Siberian Light, and Kazakh Export Blend Crude Oil (KEBCO) grades this month from Novorossiysk, according to data compiled by Reuters from loading schedules it had obtained.   This autumn and winter season has seen so far several…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Storm-Halts-Oil-Loadings-at-Russian-Black-Sea-Port.html

10 years in, GM CEO Mary Barra has built her legacy on change and crisis. 2024 will bring new tests

GM is facing challenges with EV demand and its Cruise autonomous driving unit, but those headwinds may play to Barra’s strengths.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/15/for-10-year-gm-ceo-mary-barra-2024-is-about-change-and-crisis.html

Inflation is still a mixed bag, but markets don’t care. They see big Fed rate cuts ahead

Markets absorbed key data and concluded that, if nothing else, the Fed soon could start rolling back interest rates.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/15/inflation-is-still-a-mixed-bag-but-markets-dont-care-they-see-big-fed-rate-cuts-ahead.html

U.S.-owned container vessel struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile off the coast of Yemen

A U.S.-owned container ship on Monday was struck by a missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, according to the U.S. Central Command.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/15/red-sea-vessel-off-the-coast-of-yemen-struck-by-missile-uk-says.html

Redesigned Apple Watches not subject to import ban, U.S. Customs says

The import ban, issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission, applies to Apple’s current Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/15/redesigned-apple-watches-not-subject-to-import-ban-us-customs-says.html

Art of the trade: How top value investor Bill Nygren made 80 times his money buying a media company

Nygren took advantage of a period of time when Liberty Media went through a number of structural changes.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/15/art-of-the-trade-how-top-value-investor-bill-nygren-made-80-times-his-money-buying-a-media-company.html

Iowa Republican caucus sets new record for state political ad buys: $120 million

The Republican Iowa caucus is on track to be the most expensive ever in the state, despite former President Donald Trump’s dominance in the polls.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/15/iowa-republican-caucus-sets-new-record-for-state-political-ad-buys-.html

IMF warns AI to hit almost 40% of jobs worldwide and worsen overall inequality

The analysis comes as business and political leaders from around the world gather at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/15/imf-warns-ai-to-hit-almost-40percent-of-global-employment-worsen-inequality.html

Defense Sec. Austin released from hospital after complications from cancer surgery he kept secret

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was released from the hospital after spending two weeks there to treat complications from surgery for prostate cancer.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/15/austin-released-from-hospital-after-prostate-cancer-surgery-complications-.html

Biden raises over $97 million in fourth quarter, enters election year with $117 million war chest

President Joe Biden raised over $97 million in the fourth quarter and came into 2024 with $117 million on hand.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/15/biden-raises-over-97-million-in-fourth-quarter-117-million-on-hand.html

42-year-old brings in more than $1 million a year from newsletter, podcast: ‘My advice is just stop tweeting and do the work’

Lenny Rachitsky makes more than $1 million per year on his newsletter and podcast. His advice for others: Do the work and gain experience.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/15/lenny-rachitskys-advice-for-success-in-a-podcast-and-newsletter.html

3 ways to feel motivated in winter, according to a Danish happiness and hygge expert

Meik Wiking is a happiness researcher based in Copenhagen and author of New York Times bestseller “The Little Book of Hygge.”

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/15/happiness-researcher-how-to-stay-motivated-in-the-dead-of-winter.html

What is the World Economic Forum?

What does the World Economic Forum do once its annual meeting in Davos is over? CNBC explains.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2024/01/15/what-is-the-world-economic-forum.html

Lawfare Against Trump Is Running Out Of Gas: VDH

Lawfare Against Trump Is Running Out Of Gas: VDHAuthored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

Prosecutors are discovering that the more they seek to rush to judgment before the election and gag Trump from speaking publicly about these proceedings, the more he rises in the polls…

We should dispense with the tired narrative that four conscientious state and federal prosecutors – independently and without contact with the Biden White House or the radical Democrats in Congress – all came to the same disinterested conclusions that Donald Trump should be indicted for various crimes and put on trial during the campaign season of 2024.

The prosecutors began accelerating their indictments only once Trump started to lead incumbent Joe Biden by sizable margins in head-to-head polls. Moreover, had Trump not run for the presidency, or had he been of the same party …

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/lawfare-against-trump-running-out-gas-vdh

Houthi Militants Attack US Container Ship With Ballistic Missiles Days After Biden Attack On Yemen

Houthi Militants Attack US Container Ship With Ballistic Missiles Days After Biden Attack On YemenSo much for the billions in taxpayer funds spent on Operation “Prosperity Guardian”, the Biden admin’s brilliant plan to “protect” shipping through the Red Sea against Houthi attacks.

On Monday, Houthi militants struck another US-owned container ship with an anti-ship ballistic missile, underscoring how catastrophic Biden’s attempt to protect one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes has been, and that the world’s most important trade artery remains too risky for navigation despite explicit US guarantees for safe passage.

The Gibraltar Eagle, a Marshall Islands-flagged, U.S.-owned and operated container ship, was struck at about 4 p.m. local time in the Gulf of Aden, US Central Command said on X. Nobody was injured, the vessel avoided significant damage and was able continue its journey, it said.

On Jan. 15 at approximately 4 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and struck the M/V Gibraltar Eagle, a Marshall Islands-flagged, U.S.-owned and operated container ship. The ship has… pic.twitter.com/gixEMaUiVT

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 15, 2024

Eagle Bulk Shipp …

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/houthi-militants-attack-us-container-ship-ballistic-missiles-days-after-biden-attack-yemen

Death, ‘Disease X’, & “Rebuilding Trust” With The Denizens Of Davos

Death, ‘Disease X’, & “Rebuilding Trust” With The Denizens Of DavosAuthored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,

“I have decided to unilaterally rebrand Disease X! It is now Disease DIC! Debt Implosion Cover-up”

– Edward Dowd

The nabobs and panjandrums of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meet up at Davos, Switzerland, the next several days to lay plans for their latest assault on humanity.

This year’s theme is “Rebuilding Trust.”

Did you just blow your coffee through your nose?

The outfit that coordinated the world-wide Covid-19 response (that perhaps birthed the very concept of Covid-19 itself), and especially pushed mRNA vaccines on the credulous global public — this gang of super-wealthy, super-connected, super-important celebrity punks, poohbahs, pricks, and predators wants a cuddle.

This Davos crowd — moiling around the opening soirée amid drool-worthy trays of crab puffs, asparagus gougères, lobster crostini, waygu morsels, Prosciutto-Fig bites, chickpea panisse, stuffed castelvetrano olives, wild boar and quinoa dolmas, fava bean puree toasts, pigeon pea fritters, and Nürnberger rostbratwurst pigs-in-a-blanket, all washed down by bottomless flutes of Roederer Cristal Millésime Brut— could not stop chattering about the debut of the latest viral confection, “Disease X”, said to be twenty times deadlier than Covid-19.

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/death-disease-x-rebuilding-trust-denizens-davos

“It’s All Over”: Powell’s WSJ Mouthpiece And JPMorgan Confirm Imminent End Of QT

“It’s All Over”: Powell’s WSJ Mouthpiece And JPMorgan Confirm Imminent End Of QTOn December 13 the financial world was stunned when, just two weeks after Jerome Powell had said he it was “premature” to speculate on rate cuts, the Federal Reserve did a shocking U-turn and pivoted dovishly, ending the Fed’s hiking cycle with inflation still running at double the Fed’s target of 2%, and said that it had in fact discussed the start of rate cuts, contrary to what Powell said just two weeks earlier.

Or rather, we should say “the financial world that had not read Zero Hedge was stunned” because just one week ahead of the Fed’s December FOMC meeting, we correctly predicted the Fed’s pivot due to one simple reason: as we laid out in ”

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/its-all-over-now-powells-wsj-mouthpiece-jpmorgan-confirm-qt-almost-over

Baby milk: Asda and Tesco cut price of Aptamil formula

The supermarkets follow Iceland in cutting the cost of formula after the manufacturer cut prices to retailers.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67986236?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

UK’s largest nightclub owner calls in administrators

Pryzm-owner Rekom is struggling because of higher energy prices and cost-of-living pressures on clubbers.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67986689?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

New train strike dates announced by Aslef drivers’ union

Fresh walkouts are planned for January and February as the dispute enters its third calendar year.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67978562?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Jyoti CNC Automation’s listing on Tuesday marks first IPO debut of 2024. Here’s what GMP indicates

The IPO of Jyoti CNC Automation received a healthy response from investors with 38.5 times overall subscription.

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/ipos/fpos/jyoti-cnc-automations-listing-on-tuesday-marks-first-ipo-debut-of-2024-heres-what-gmp-indicates/articleshow/106872850.cms

These 5 outperformers have lower PEs than their industry

According to Trendlyne, these 5 stocks outperformed their industry. The counters have better durability and momentum, and they have PE lower than the industry. Take a look:

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/these-5-outperformers-have-lower-pes-than-their-industry-should-you-buy/taking-stock/slideshow/106868709.cms

Motilal Oswal MF rakes in Rs 622-crore profit via stake sale in Zomato, 5 FPIs pick shares

The domestic mutual fund firm sold 4.5 crore shares or 0.5% stake in Zomato at Rs 138.15 a share, according to block deals data on the National Stock Exchange. As of December-end, Motilal Oswal MF held a 1.83% stake in the new-age consumer technology major. The selling exerted pressure on the stock, as it closed 4.4% down at Rs 133.40 on the NSE.

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/motilal-oswal-mf-rakes-in-rs-622-crore-profit-via-stake-sale-in-zomato-5-fpis-pick-shares/articleshow/106873912.cms

My cousin left his estate to 6 relatives, but only one cousin, worth $30 million, received the inheritance — due to an ‘unexpected surprise’

“I can’t help but feel that the deceased cousin would not have wanted the bulk of their estate to be awarded to this extremely wealthy cousin.”

Read more at: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/my-cousin-left-his-estate-to-6-relatives-but-only-one-cousin-worth-30-million-received-the-inheritance-due-to-an-unexpected-surprise-ffd7add7?mod=mw_rss_topstories

Why Donald Trump is unlikely to get his wish for a 2024 U.S. stock-market crash

Odds of a Wall Street plunge occurring this year are significantly below average.

Read more at: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-donald-trump-is-unlikely-to-get-his-wish-for-a-2024-u-s-stock-market-crash-c7e42e64?mod=mw_rss_topstories

A rude awakening: Lack of financial literacy hurts the young. What about older people?

Learn how to spot scams, fund retirement and pay down debt.

Read more at: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-rude-awakening-lack-of-financial-literacy-hurts-the-young-what-about-older-people-f1c3468d?mod=mw_rss_topstories