MARKET COMMENT
April 23, 2007
One way Nigerian’s spend a romantic evening is watching the
after-glow of another terrorist attack on oil production facilities.
Well, it is a cheap date!
So we’re back to oil market instability today caused by
nervousness about weekend voting irregularities in Nigeria.
And here it’s only late April and hurricane season
is a little over a month away.
It looks
like the geopolitical and weather premium built into energy prices may remain.
This leads me to my ongoing bitch complaint regarding
the lack of “any” energy policy in the US since the first oil embargo in
1973.
I mean, c’mon, 34 years of no
action!
No drilling off any US coast
anymore [thank you Nancy, Jeb & Co.], don’t touch
Anwar [thank you Dems], no
nuke plants in our back yard [thank you Jane], no nuke waste stored in the
Yucca Mountains [thank you Harry], no wind farms near Cape Cod [thank you Ted]
and no more fossil fuels at all [thank you Al].
In the meantime strategic interests owing to our own shortsightedness
have us at war for the stuff [thank you George I and II].
So given this litany you’d think we’d have done
something in our interest--but no.
Our
suppliers are laughing all the way to the bank while we jabber about global
warming and our boys are dying.
It’s a
national disgrace!
Okay, I’m done.
You must think I’ve crossed over to the dark side--just a
commodity and currency guy.
No.
But these markets will remain in the
spotlight for some time.
Elsewhere equity markets consolidated.
This is not surprising after Friday’s big
run-up especially after an options expiry session.
Will the following three PowerShares
issues [PSI, PSJ and PBE] continue to be more “dynamic” on the upside than
their conventional counterparts?
And how about those equal weights that I like so much?
Um, clearly I don’t have Cramer’s pull.
Okay let’s move overseas and check out a smattering of
markets.
I’d say the only folks who enjoyed today were oil
barons.
But the market consolidation
today shouldn’t surprise anyone on the heels of such a sharp move higher.
There will be plenty of economic data coming
our way throughout the week along with a passel of earnings reports.
And about energy policy…oh, nevermind.
The beat goes on.
Have a pleasant evening.
Disclaimer:
Among
other issues, the ETF Digest maintains long or short positions in: DBE, UDN, GLD,
DBP, DBB, DBC, SPY, MDY, IWM, QQQQ, PSI, PSJ,
PBE, FDN, RTIM, RYF, RHS, RYH, EFA, EEM
ILF, IEV, EWN, EWY, EWC, EWA, INP and FXI.