| |
 |
|
|
Finance & Stock Groups Forum Index » Mutual Funds » Oil closes below $66 on slowdown fears
Page 1 of 1
|
| Author |
Message |
| Monitor |
 Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 10:45 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
Oil closes below $66 on slowdown fears
Crude futures whipsaw Thursday - retreating off earlier highs of $70 a
barrel - as fears of a global slowdown trump a weaker dollar.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices fell Thursday as the global
economic slowdown accelerated fears that demand for energy will
continue to slide.
Crude settled $1.54 lower to $65.96 a barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange.
The retreat in oil prices follows a morning rally when crude futures
passed $70 a barrel. Oil prices were boosted in morning trade by the
declining value of thedollar in the wake of the Federal Reserve's move
to cut interest rates by 0.5%, reducing the key lending rate to 1%
"There is so much demand destruction with the credit crisis and the
slowdown," said James Cordier, portfolio manager of OptionSellers.com.
"And while the stock market might be in a hurry to predict when the
economy will pick back up, commodities are different than that because
they actually need physical demand to recover."
"Commodities are simply - what is demand today, what is supply
tomorrow," said Cordier. "If we are going into an economic slowdown
that can last for 6 to 12 months, oil prices can fall for 6 months or
12 months.{"
As crude oil futures have plummeted, retail gas prices have also
declined. Prices at the pump fell for the 43 consecutive days on
Thursday, providing some relief for consumers strapped during the
economic downturn.
In addition, a recent U.S. Department of Energy report showed that
Americans are driving 5.6% less than last year.
"That speaks volumes that gas prices fell 30-40% but demand is still
down," said Cordier. "That gives a really good idea to the state of
the consumer right now." |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| |
|
Page 1 of 1
All times are GMT
The time now is Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:37 pm
|
|
|