Market News

What if two-thirds of consumer spending was spent on filling up their gas tanks to drive to and fro to wherever oil addicts go?

Consumer Confidence is a survey of consumer attitudes concerning both the present situation as well as expectations regarding economic conditions conducted by The Conference Board. Five thousand consumers across the country are surveyed each month. The level of consumer confidence is directly related to the strength of consumer spending. Consumer confidence and consumer sentiment are …

The price of a barrel of crude oil spiked to $72.49 before settling (for now) at $71.95. Mayhem from major oil-producing countries contine while oil suppliers can’t seem to keep up with demand. With oil prices rising, obviously gasoline prices will follow. Here is a recent chart from Chart of the Day. It shows the …

Oil futures are back at $70 per barrel, the price when Hurricane Katrina hit. Drivers are paying an average of $2.70 a gallon for regular gasoline. Talk about highway robbery. I really do feel like I’m being robbed every time I hop on the highway. Actually, I feel like I’m being robbed every time I …

Some people call oil “black gold.” I call it “black crack.” One can live without gold, but if you’re a crack addict, you can’t live without yo crack yo. I bet you’re wondering why oil costs so freakin’ much? That chart from the “Chart of the Day” shows why oil will probably be never cheap …

Macroeconomics provides us with a overall checkup of a country’s economic health. Instead of looking at the behavior of individual businesses and consumers, which is called microeconomics, the goal of macroeconomics is to look at overall economic trends such as employment levels, productivity, and inflation. A country’s economy is controlled by its money supply and …

Sad but true. This short article written by Ben Stein provides the best example I’ve read on the current shape of the US economy. He tells the story through the eyes of an American consumer. I hope you when you read the article, you aren’t in the same pickle. If you are, I hope the …

Check out WSJ’s Monthly Economic Forecasting Survey for Febuary 2006. The Wall Street Journal surveys a group of more than 50 economists throughout the year. This month’s survey update covers the most closely watched forecasts: * Interest rates * Inflation * Oil * GDP This isn’t your typical boring survey filled with endless words. It …

If you’ve been keeping up with the news, you’ve probably been hearing about the Fed doing this, the Fed doing that. Well if you don’t have clue what the Fed is or how it affects the dollar, it would behoove you to check out this Web site. It’s an interactive introduction to the Federal Reserve, …

“Forty-five-hundred employees, 10 countries, five time zones. ” This article explains how globalization works by showing us how a simple electric toothbrush is made. 38 components, 12 factories Philips and its suppliers produce the electronic toothbrush “Sonicare Elite 7000” and its sister models at 12 locations and in five time zones. Once or twice a …

Check out this chart. You’ll see that there’s a pretty tight correlation between the dollar and crude. When the black stuff rises, the dollar falls. And vice versa. The black line represents crude oil futures and blue represents the US$ Dollar Index (inverted).