The current price of key market indexes

[The Virginian]

Now those were the "good old days" Mod! You could fill up with gas, buy lunch and still have money left to go on a date!

[Value Buy]

Just paid $2.409 a Gallon. 
Down $.31 from last weekend.

[The Virginian]

Jul 25, 2015 12:34:02 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

Just paid $2.409 a Gallon. 
Down $.31 from last weekend.

Wow that's' a huge drop - I have to travel soon, I hope it holds.

[ModE98]

Happy trails to you, Mr. V., it appears gas may get cheaper for awhile. 

[Value Buy]

Commodities continue to swoon, taking stocks associated with them down, down, down.

[Value Buy]

July 31st prices

Dow 17,689.86
Nasdaq 5,128.28
S&P 500 2,103.84
Russell 2000 1,255.44
Transportation Index 8,391.96
Utility Index 583.94

Gold $1,095.00 oz
Platinum $983.50
Silver $14.76 oz
Copper $2.354

Brent oil $52.24 per barrel
WTI oil $46.77 per barrel
Gasoline $1.766 gallon NY Harbor
Natural gas $2.714
Heating oil $1.5839 gallon
Diesel $1.5835 gallon
Coal 42.88

Wheat $498.25
Corn $381.75
Soybeans $939.50
Orange juice $123.35
Lumber $252.30
Live cattle $146.45
Lean hogs $78.525

Ten year Treasury 2.1872%

Euro $1.0986
Canadian dollar $130.81
Yen $123.92

DOW and S&P 500 down slightly from July 15th.
Transportation, utility and Nasdaq are up.
Gold and silver still down as is copper based on China useage.
Oil- have we hit bottom yet? Maybe not. Our rig count was actually up over last reporting period. Why? Should be way down.
Wheat corn and soybeans all down, wheat because it looks like wheat has had excellent production across the world and supplies are excellent.
Ten year fell at the end of the week, due to Fed inaction on interest rates.
The stock earnings are all over the board this quarter, and some good companies are being knocked down. The internet and computer companies are being especially taken to task, and yet the Nasdaq is up the last two weeks.
The first week of August might be rocky for stocks, but I believe by September the indices will be positive.

[ModE98]

Beware the ides of September, they can be rough some years.  Will we be lucky this year? 

[ModE98]

"It appears that prices in the oil market will stay lower for longer, as traders and oil companies see the global glut of crude persisting beyond this year. Benchmark U.S. oil futures for September delivery are nearing the six-year low struck in March, but contracts for delivery in later years have taken an even bigger hit, with prices for 2016 and 2017 already trading below their March lows. Crude futures -0.3% to $43.76/bbl."  (Seeking Alpha's "Wall Street Breakfast" 8/10/15)

[Value Buy]

Aug 10, 2015 9:54:31 GMT -5 ModE98 said:

"It appears that prices in the oil market will stay lower for longer, as traders and oil companies see the global glut of crude persisting beyond this year. Benchmark U.S. oil futures for September delivery are nearing the six-year low struck in March, but contracts for delivery in later years have taken an even bigger hit, with prices for 2016 and 2017 already trading below their March lows. Crude futures -0.3% to $43.76/bbl."  (Seeking Alpha's "Wall Street Breakfast" 8/10/15)

I read an article that the Opec is forcing $30 range on oil. I will see if I can find it and post here.
We hit a six year low on WTI today. 

Here is the article.
www.cnbc.com/2015/08/11/opec-just-kicked-oil-into-the-30s.html

[Value Buy]

Here is an article on gasoline pricing by the end of the year


www.cnbc.com/2015/08/11/6-reasons-gas-prices-could-fall-below-2-a-gallon.html

[Value Buy]

The last three days have been a horrible roller coaster ride.
Up 200+
down 200+
Down 270 before breaking even at the close.
The two big down days due to devaluation of the Chinese Yuan, on both days.
What the heck is that? Devaluation of their currency two days in a row?
Who is running the show there?

Then our Government releases corn wheat and soybean report, surprising traders with big expected yields in all three grains.
Soybeans and corn are hit by 5% or more, wheat about 2 1/2%. Evidently even with spring summer flooding in the Midwest we will still see great yields.

[Value Buy]

August 14th pricing

Dow 17,447.40
Nasdaq 5,048.23
S&P 500 2,091.54
Russell 2000 1,212.69
Transportation Index 8,318.70
Utility Index 604.29

Gold $1,140.60 oz
Platinum $992.70
Silver $15.185 oz
Copper $2.3445

Brent oil $49.00 per barrel
WTI oil $42.13 per barrel
Gasoline $1.6829 gallon NY Harbor
Natural gas $2.81
Heating oil $1.5480 gallon
Diesel $1.5493 gallon
Coal 42.88

Wheat $506.00
Corn $375.75
Soybeans $916.25
Orange juice $132.20
Lumber $254.00
Live cattle $147.30
Lean hogs $65.575

Ten year Treasury 2.20%

Euro $1.1112
Canadian dollar $130.91
Yen $124.30

After two weeks of terrible stock action, the damage does not seem as bad as it originally looked.
Spread between WTI and Brent oil is just short of $7 a barrel. Not sure why it is rising, with the dollar still strong.
Corn and soybeans remain very soft, wheat bounced off it's lows of two weeks ago.

[Value Buy]

August 31st closing prices


Dow 16,528.16
Nasdaq 4,776.51
S&P 500 1,972.19
Russell 2000 1,159.45
Transportation Index 7,845.15
Utility Index 562.02

Gold $1,135.40 oz
Platinum $011.40
Silver $14.63 oz
Copper $2.338

Brent oil $53.39 per barrel
WTI oil $48.55 per barrel
Gasoline $1.6436 gallon NY Harbor
Natural gas $2.688
Heating oil $1.6836 gallon
Diesel $1.6865 gallon
Coal 42.88

Wheat $486.00
Corn $375.25
Soybeans $885.75
Orange juice $129.55
Lumber $233.90
Live cattle $143.175
Lean hogs $68.05

Ten year Treasury 2.214%

Euro $1.122
Canadian dollar $131.56
Yen $121.24

Dow down 6% and 1,000 points this month
S&P 500 down 6% and 130 points in a month
Nasdaq down over 7% and 352 points in a month
Oil in five days has grown by $10 a barrel off last week's low, but up only less than $2.00 a barrel in a month.
I imagine the shorts in the oil complex have been squeezed out in the last four days, but we will have to wait to see whether oil continues to climb.
Gold up $140 an oz for the month, silver is down.
Grain commodities, all three down on the month
Lumber is down $20 a contract even with new home construction doing well.
Euro and yen are up against the dollar on the month
Canadian dollar, slightly lower
Ten year is up  from 2.1872%, and like stocks and oil have been all over the board this month.

Crazy crazy month.
We have five trading days this week, but have a holiday week next week. I have to wonder if a lot of traders want to be in the market over the holiday weekend when other markets are trading Monday.
So much going on around the world to be long on some of these positions.

[Value Buy]

September 15th closing prices

Dow 16,599.85
Nasdaq 4,860.52
S&P 500 1,978.09
Russell 2000 1,166.02
Transportation Index 8,163.93
Utility Index 553.74

Gold $1,104.00 oz
Platinum $963.50
Silver $14.375 oz
Copper $2.428

Brent oil $46.60 per barrel
WTI oil $44.63 per barrel
Gasoline $1.333 gallon NY Harbor
Natural gas $2.728
Heating oil $1.5032 gallon
Diesel $1.5024 gallon
Coal 42.50

Wheat $496.00
Corn $390.25
Soybeans $889.75
Orange juice $122.40
Lumber $238.20
Live cattle $140.45
Lean hogs $66.675

Ten year Treasury 2.278

Euro $1.1266
Canadian dollar $132.51
Yen $120.40

Dow was up 1.4% today    S&P 1.28%  Nasdaq 1.3%
Not sure if it is due to interest rate anticipation on Thursday, or not.
Dow is down 848 points in the last 30 days, but bounced out of correction territory today.
Metals are in a tight trading range, but copper looks like it might have bottomed out.
WTI and Brent are now trading within $2 a barrel. Very unusual range for it. We still do not know whether we have bottomed in oil yet, but we seem to be stuck in the mid $40 for wti.
RROB at $1.333 means we should bee seeing under $2 a gallon a gas in a large segment of the country by the end of this month. The winter blend becomes available for selling either tomorrow or Thursday, which will lower retail a few more cents. The refiners might still have summer blend they have to sell, so it might take another week to reflect this at the pump.
Notice diesel and heating oil is trading well above gasoline now. At the end of July they were almost fifteen cents a gallon cheaper than rrob
Grains are in a tight trading range, not doing anything now
Money trades are stable right now, but notice the ten yr jumped today.
I imagine that is a bet on ther Fed raising interest rates Thursday.
I still do not have an idea which way they will go. I originally thought they would leave as is, but now, not so sure.

[Value Buy]

Here is an interesting read on the oi surplus and contango occurring in the oil trade right now.

www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/oil-traders-hire-tanks-on-tiny-island-to-profit-from-global-glut/ar-AAekMRd

[Value Buy]

WTI has shown a large jump in futures today based on a real small drop on oil inventory levels when we are hiding/storing oil all over the world in anticipation of higher prices.
rrob gasoline rose seven cents today on an increase in inventory levels.
Oxymoron............


And no one has a clue where interest rates are going tomorrow.
Lots of money is being bet without a clue where we as a nation are heading economically.

[Value Buy]

Well, so much for lower gasoline prices.
All our local stations were between $2.069 and $2.099 yesterday.
This evening they were all between $2.499 and $2.599 a gallon.

I imagine it was because many refineries said they were going down for maintence and repairs this month. Our refinery in Whiting In. had a three week outage in August for a breakdown in the refinery shooting prices up to this price and they announced they would be taking production offline in September for maintence and repairs.

Half of the refinery is brand new, coming online to refine Canadian sand crude at $25 a barrel. It took two years to build and came online late last year 
I would imagine it would still be in great shape.........and yet, here we have inflated retail pricing again.
This is owned by British Petroleum, who also brought us the mess in the Gulf of Mexico.

[Value Buy]

Today, with the revised GDP numbers, the entire metal complex is down, and all the other commodities I track are up, except for NG.
I assume with revised GDP number we will see the Fed increase interest rates this year, not next year.
Still wondering why all commodities outside of the metals are up on the news. If gdp rate is increasing, inflation should be seen somewhere on the horizon.
What am I missing?
Is it as simple as traders selling metals to buy everything else?

[Value Buy]

September 30th closing prices


Dow 16,284.70
Nasdaq 4,620.17
S&P 500 1,920.03
Russell 2000 1,100.69
Transportation Index 7,785.63
Utility Index 576.83

Gold $1,115.30 oz
Platinum $907.20
Silver $14.515 oz
Copper $2.345

Brent oil $48.51 per barrel
WTI oil $45.35 per barrel
Gasoline $1.3682 gallon NY Harbor
Natural gas $2.53
Heating oil $1.5409 gallon
Diesel $1.541 gallon
Coal $42.13

Wheat $512.50
Corn $387.00
Soybeans $891.00
Orange juice $105.55
Lumber $229.20
Live cattle $130.925
Lean hogs $66.725

Ten year Treasury 2.05

Euro $1.1164
Canadian dollar $133.04
Yen $119.88

With all the turmoil in the markets, stocks are struggling. Dow is actually down only 316 points. Of course we had a strong day today to erase a couple hundred points. Utility index has regained some recent losses. 
Metal complex is about the same except for platinum. It is down $200 on a contract in a month. Copper is back to where it was on August 15th.
WTI continues to kick around the $44 to $48 a barrel level.
Wheat is above $500 but corn and soybeans are staying put with a month ago.
Cattle futures are still falling, while pork trades in a $65 to $69 range.
Ten year has dropped back to 2.05% even though it looks like the Fed might actually raise rates this year.

[Value Buy]

October 15th closing quotes

Dow 1,7141.75
Nasdaq 4,870.10
S&P 500 2,023.86
Russell 2000 1,161.72
Transportation Index 8,208.57
Utility Index 596.04

Gold $1,182.60 oz
Platinum $1,060.70
Silver $16.125 oz
Copper $2.4315

Brent oil $46.76 per barrel
WTI oil $48.70 per barrel
Gasoline $1.3129 gallon NY Harbor
Natural gas $2.46
Heating oil $1.4938 gallon
Diesel $1.4927 gallon
Coal $41.93

Wheat $502.50
Corn $375.50
Soybeans $905.25
Orange juice $129.30
Lumber $259.50
Live cattle $16.575
Lean hogs $66.525

Ten year Treasury 2.0017

Euro $1.1376
Canadian dollar $128.49
Yen $118.88

Dow has recovered 866 points in 15 days, transports and utility index also showed healthy gains.
Oil s still in the mid $40's to around $50 a barrel.
Heating oil and diesel down about five cents from Oct 1st.
Copper and silver have shown some life lately. Lumber is also climbing.
Grain commodities, wheat and corn down slightly, soybeans up slightly.
Ten year actually broke below 2% this week, but closed at 2.017%

[Value Buy]

October 30th quotes

Dow 17,663.54
Nasdaq 5,053.75
S&P 500 2,079.36
Russell 2000 1,162.65
Transportation Index 8,128.07
Utility Index 580.50

Gold $1,141.60 oz
Platinum $986.60
Silver $15.515 oz
Copper $2.314

Brent oil $49.42 per barrel
WTI oil $46.41 per barrel
Gasoline $1.3991 gallon NY Harbor
Natural gas $2.328
Heating oil $1.493 gallon
Diesel $1.493 gallon
Coal $41.88

Wheat $522.75
Corn $382.00
Soybeans $885.00
Orange juice $134.20
Lumber $252.00
Live cattle $141.70
Lean hogs $59.225

Ten year Treasury 2.146

Euro $1.0994
Canadian dollar $130.67
Yen $120.68

Interesting dynamic on stocks the last two weeks.
Dow up 520 points, Nasdaq up 183 pts. S&P UP 55 points, Russel is flat, and transports down 80 points. Utilities down about 15 points, on the ten year jumping to 2.14 from 2.017.
Gold down $42, Platinum down $74, silver down $.60 and copper down just over $.10 a lb.

Oil still in a tight trading range, but Gasoline moving slightly higher, good for the refiner margins.
Grain commodities just in a trading range, but cattle and lean hogs are still falling.

Euro is down to $1.099 against the dollar again.
With the data at the end of October now available and the GDP as well as sold new home data being poor, I do not think the Fed can or will raise interest rates this year, regardless of the tone of the fed saying otherwise..

[Value Buy]

Look at the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 for the month of October.
Hard to believe we had a market rally in stocks.
It felt like a blood bath.

Long term investing wins out again. You have to be in to win!
Doing DRIPS does not hurt you either.

[Value Buy]

November 16th quotes

Dow 17,483.01
Nasdaq 4,984.62
S&P 500 2,053.19
Russell 2000 1,156.08
Transportation Index 8,052.05
Utility Index 568.80

Gold $1,081.60 oz
Platinum $868.30
Silver $14.225 oz
Copper $2.1215

Brent oil $44.77 per barrel
WTI oil $41.83 per barrel
Gasoline $1.2453 gallon NY Harbor
Natural gas $2.339
Heating oil $1.393 gallon
Diesel $1.393 gallon
Coal $41.75

Wheat $493.50
Corn $360.00
Soybeans $859.50
Orange juice $139.25
Lumber $242.00
Live cattle $127.65
Lean hogs $51.80

Ten year Treasury 2.27

Euro $1.0687
Canadian dollar $133.30
Yen $123.20

[Value Buy]

November 30th closing quotes


Dow 17,719.92
Nasdaq 5,108.67
S&P 500 2,080.41
Russell 2000 1,198.11
Transportation Index 8,101.45
Utility Index 563.13
Gold $1,063.70 oz
Platinum $832.30
Silver $14.06 oz
Copper $2.048

Brent oil $44.55 per barrel
WTI oil $41.70 per barrel
Gasoline $1.3393 gallon NY Harbor
Natural gas $2.239
Heating oil $1.336 gallon
Diesel $1.3348 gallon
Coal $42.08

Wheat $476.00
Corn $372.25
Soybeans $881.75
Orange juice $141.75
Lumber $246.80
Live cattle $129.50
Lean hogs $58.55

Ten year Treasury 2.21
Euro $1.0562
Canadian dollar $133.58
Yen $123.09

Stocks, although down today have finished positive on the month. Set us up for an interesting December. Will we see a Santa Claus rally?
We have to remember with crude oil being so low, OPEC members have to dip into their money reserves to prop up government services. This can mean some countries in the Middle East may continue selling some stock positions. They certainly will not be buying any, so stocks might struggle.

Metals complex continues to sell off with no inflation in sight around the world. Look at copper-down $.39 since October 15th, and looking like it wants to break $2.00
Platinum down over $200 in same period, and silver down over $2 

Oil complex- crude stable from the sixteenth, but down over $4 a barrel since October 15th. RROB is actually up $.026 a gallon in the same period, and heating oil down sixteen cents  for the period. Traders are making money in rrob, unless they shorted it. Spread between crude and rrob increasing.
Natural gas- congratulations! you will be heating your house this year at an even lower cost than last year. It is just plain cheap.

Grain commodities- wheat has fallen more than corn and soybeans over the last 45 days. Reports say Argentina might increase wheat exports, causing the price to drop.
Ten year is treading around 2.21 to 2.27 area.
Euro has sold off by five cents against the dollar in 45 days.
Yen and the Canadian dollar about the same sell off range
I really thought the Fed would raise in December, but with everything going on across the world, and Euro falling, all commodities down, I just do not see how they can.
Could they be that contrarian to world events?

[Value Buy]

Current WTI contract briefly broke $40 a barrel today.

[Value Buy]

WTI fell today and closed at $39.97 a barrel.

[ModE98]

I like cheap gas as long as it lasts.  Imagine everyone who drives does too.  The lower the better for the consumer!

[Deleted]

Talk is that gasoline could drop below $2 a gallon; even premium grade.

Now that would be even nicer still, yet I so like premium @ $2.39 much more than when it was $4.50

[Value Buy]

The talk is Saudi Arabia will keep pumping to keep prices down, because they want to keep a large amount of money from  flowing to Iran when they can legally start selling oil on the markets again.

[Value Buy]

WTI oil broke below $38 a barrel this morning.
How low is too low?