Before I take a few days hiatus (well deserved) and with the world in a more “serene” state, it is a good time to contemplate the recent news out of the GULF REGION. In a story in yesterday’s Financial Times, “Saudis battle to calm oil fears,” it seems that the Saudis have consigned 11 VLCCS to send a total of TWENTY-TWO MILLION BARRELS of crude to the U.S. This is an interesting development as high U.S. gas prices are seen to be an issue in the upcoming presidential election.
Posts Tagged ‘Italian BTP’
Notes From Underground: OIL–A CONJECTURE
March 21, 2012Notes From Underground: ALAS, THE ECB STEPPED INTO THE VOID
August 8, 2011As expected, the ECB began buying Spanish and Italian bonds. The ECB actions brought about a drop in yields of 82 basis points on the Italian and 92 points on the Spanish. Today was one of the few days in recent memory when the Italian and German Bond Futures both staged significant rallies, meaning this was just not a rotation out of one and into another. The collapse in equity prices obviously caused a flight into DEBT as global investors ran to safety. GOLD, of course, was the greatest recipient of the search for safe havens. BUT THE BID FOR GOLD WAS HELPED BY THE ACTIONS OF THE ECB, FOR TODAY WAS THE FIRST DAY OF QE1 FOR EUROPE. Further proof for this was that the EURO FX failed to rally in conjunction with the ITALIAN BTP rally. Italian bonds up; EURO down as the ECB was creating short-term liquidity.