OIL FUTURES: Nymex Crude Jumps At Open Sun Ahead Of Gustav - Cattle Network

OIL FUTURES: Nymex Crude Jumps At Open Sun Ahead Of Gustav

NEW ORLEANS (Dow Jones)–Crude oil futures jumped at the open of electronic trading Sunday, as the energy industry braced for the onslaught of Hurricane Gustav.

Light, sweet crude futures for October delivery were up $2.84. or 2.4%, at $118.30 a barrel, off a session high of $118.39.

Trade appeared to be light and the modest nature of the move underscored a reluctance to act until Gustav has made landfall and the extent of any long term damage to Gulf Coast energy infrastructure becomes apparent.

Overriding concerns about the state of U.S. energy demand are also limiting moves higher in oil prices.

“I don’t know if the market is more concerned about softening in demand than they are for a lack of production,” said Phil Flynn, analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. “Now we’re getting closer to the event and so there may be a little bit more nervousness.”

Flynn expects oil futures to trade to the higher end of their current range - around $120 a barrel. Then, the market “will basically wait until we see what happens with the storm and how much damage is actually done,” he added.

Moving to respond to potential energy price movements ahead of Gustav, the Nymex opened electronic trading early on Sunday. All energy products trading on the electronic platform opened for trading at 2:30 p.m. EDT Sunday.

The products, which include benchmark crude oil, gasoline and natural gas futures, were originally scheduled to start trading at 6 p.m. Sunday.

Pit trading on the floor of the Nymex is closed Sunday and Monday for the Labor Day holiday. The shift in electronic trading hours gives investors greater time to hedge their bets ahead of Gustav.

Source: Brian Baskin, Dow Jones Newswires; 201 938 2062; brian.baskin@dowjones.com

Nymex Adds Energy Trading Hours Sunday In Response To Hurricane - Cattle Network

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–The scheduled Sunday restart of energy futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange was switched to an earlier time in anticipation of Hurricane Gustav, the exchange parent said.

Nymex owner CME Group Inc. (CME) said Friday that all energy products trading on the Globex electronic platform will open for trading at 2:30 p.m. EDT Sunday “in response to concerns about Hurricane Gustav.” The products, which include benchmark crude oil, gasoline and natural gas futures, were originally scheduled to start trading at 6 p.m. Sunday.

The U.S.’s National Hurricane Center said Gustav regained hurricane wind speeds Friday and could reach the Gulf of Mexico late Saturday. The U.S. Gulf Coast is home to a quarter of the nation’s crude output and 11% of its natural gas capacity and concerns about Gustav’s impact have preoccupied energy traders in the past week.

Nymex’s over-the-counter ClearPort clearing and trading will also now reopen at 2:30 p.m. EDT Sunday, CME said.

“We wanted to provide our customers with the opportunity to respond to the storm’s potential impact to energy markets as quickly as possible,” CME’s chief operating officer Bryan Durkin said in a statement.

Nymex trading pits are still expected to be closed Monday, the U.S. Labor Day holiday, while the electronic platform will follow a normal schedule that day. CME said all other products traded on its Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade and Nymex will keep previously announced hours.

Source: Gregory Meyer, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4377; greg.meyer@dowjones.com

Truckin’ Bozo Group :: View topic - The XM merger…… changes being considered and made….

While I was at GATS this year I met many new people. I met Billy and April and I met many callers to Dave Nemos show, Bill Mack’s show, Dales show, and even Steve and Bubba’s ATN show.

One person I met told me they were employed by the other satellite. We had a long talk about the coming merger.

This person told me to enjoy it while it lasted when I mentioned my listening habits. ( 171 all day with 173 overnight).

I have had further discussions, and now I am really worried that the powers that are now in charge of the merged company will be letting some or all of the three kings of trucking radio go to save money and ” appeal to a younger audience”.

I think while there is still time to do so that I should make my opinions known.

HELLO XM Radio… I have been a subscriber since the first week you were legally able to sell your radios.. In fact the day you started selling radios, I bought 4 of them. I am still listening to a panasonic built in I installed the first week you were publicly available.

Over the years I have purchased more than 10 of your radios, and I have currently 4 working, with the others given as gifts.

Now listen carefully please… while I do sometimes listen to news, weather, or traffic, the ONLY REASON I own an XM radio is so that I can listen to DALE ( the Truckin Bozo). I have friends who feel the same way about Dave Nemo, or Bill Mack.

If you decide to do away with the Truckin Bozo, Dave Nemo, or Bill Mack you will lose many listeners who will simply turn the units off and throw them in the trash.

If you think my 4 units will be the only ones thrown away as useless trash because you stop offering the show that prompts me to own them in the first place.. I believe you are very wrong.

Please think carefully before you make this mistake! Without Dale’s show, there is nothing you offer I, and many others who feel the same way, cannot find on am or fm or via cell phone and internet. Without Bill Mack or Dave Nemo there are legions of other drivers who will feel the same way.

Without trucking radio listeners, you will be talking to an empty hall….

Please consider carefully what you are thinking of doing.

W R Wade

Could oil plunge to $65 a barrel? - MSN Money

If you’re frustrated over the high cost of gasoline at the pump, don’t trade in your Hummer for a Vespa just yet: A leading energy analyst is telling clients these days to prepare for crude oil to retreat back below $65 per barrel over the next three years.

How could it happen? He says conservation, new drilling, efficient new vehicles, alternative energy sources, a rising dollar and a global recession will combine to blast prices back to the Stone Age — or at least to last year’s levels.

“The match has struck, the fuse has been lit, and four or five years from now OPEC producers are going to be drinking their own oil and choking on it,” says Tony Kolton, the founder and president of Logical Information Machines, a provider of research to most of the world’s major energy-trading companies for two decades.

Plenty of smart analysts disagree with this point of view, figuring that emerging-market demand will pump up fossil-fuel prices and that Americans will blithely forget all about conservation if gasoline prices trend lower. But since Kolton’s view is deeply out of consensus and at least minimally plausible, it does deserve our attention.

Speculators unmasked
Kolton, a specialist in the history, composition and psychology of the energy market, believes that speculators were without question behind the run-up of prices to $147 per barrel in July and that government threats to expose and punish their behavior spooked them out of their positions in a hurry.

He says his data on open interest of noncommercial positions in crude trading, as well as conversations with professional traders at big oil companies, clearly show that speculators, and not rising demand from Asia, pushed the market to extremes.

Managing global supply chains: McKinsey Global Survey Result - The McKinsey Quarterly - managing global supply chains Mckinsey survey result - Operations - Supply Chain & Logistics

upply chains are increasingly global and complex, as companies aspire to support a variety of strategies, such as entering new markets, increasing speed to customers, and lowering costs. In this survey,1 we asked operations and other senior executives from around the world about their companies’ supply chain strategies, the factors that influence those strategies, and the ways their companies act on these factors. We also explored how well executives think their companies are meeting their goals, how they manage their supply chains, and the challenges involved in running a global supply chain.

The results show that supply chain risk is rising sharply. Executives point to the greater complexity of products and services, higher energy prices, and increasing financial volatility as top factors influencing their supply chain strategies. Relatively few respondents, however, say that their companies are translating the importance they place on these factors into corporate action.

Nor do executives express confidence that their companies are meeting the top strategic goals: reducing costs, improving customer service, and getting products to market faster. In addition, for all the public attention paid to environmental concerns, including global warming, executives report that such issues have little influence on supply chain strategies.

What’s more, our results suggest that most companies tend toward centralization, not local management, in running their supply chains and that this tendency has increased in recent years.