You can’t got to bed these days without waking up to higher prices for everything. Crude futures in New York hit nearly US$130 overnight, and now everyone is wondering what’s next. US$150? US$200.
The US is finally doing something about its addiction to foreign oil, according to a report from the Department of Energy.
The report says America’s foreign oil dependency is expected to fall from 60%, to 50% in 2015. The projected reduction is due to high crude oil prices, more efficient cars, and the use of ethanol, which have cut imports of oil to the US for the first time since 1977.
The trend is likely to have significant implications for US national and foreign policies, reports the Financial Times
Perhaps part of the humor is that this comes at the same time as the price of gasoline went up 3 cents to another record high of an average of $3.70 a gallon. This is up 22% from this time last year! 22 percent! 22! Hahahaha!
Wheat prices may be set for a major spike after a UN warning that a new “highly pathogenic strain of wheat stem rust called Ug99″ threatens 25% of the world’s wheat crops.
This from The World Tribune:
Scientists and international organizations focused on controlling wheat stem rust have said 90 percent of world wheat lines are susceptible to Ug99. The situation is particularly critical in light of the existing worldwide wheat shortage.
Whether his travels take our commodities guru, Kevin Kerr, to the Middle East or the Midwest of the U.S., the stories are very similar. Most people are concerned about the rising costs of agricultural commodities. And they should be. The commodity boom is real.
The papers have kept us in stitches today…a ‘Gas Tax Holiday’? Really? Waiting for the showdown between Hillary and Obama…the Fed has created bubble-like conditions in the commodities markets – but Kevin Kerr tells us all is not lost. Buffett tells it like it is…the art world’s big test…and more!
Rising food prices and are causing lawmakers in Washington to rethink support for corn ethanol, reports The Wall Street Journal.
According to the WSJ: “Two dozen Republican senators on Friday — including Republican presidential candidate John McCain — asked the Environmental Protection Agency to ease requirements mandated by Congress in 2007 to blend more ethanol and other renewable fuels into the gasoline supply.”
Lost in the meaningless bickering among the presidential candidates over suspending the federal gasoline tax is some genuine news…
As you can probably imagine, much of the recent discussion at Agora Financial is focused on what is going on with energy, commodities (soft and hard) and infrastructure. Prices for all of these items are on a tear.
Kevin Kerr shares the story of his own family’s trip to the U.S. while examining the resource problems we currently face. What do you think? Can we sustain an ever-rising U.S. population indefinitely?