Diamond News Archives

The markets are in serious trouble as the extreme oil price volatility continues to devastate the global economy.  Investors and analysts today are totally clueless because they have become the frogs burnt to a crisp in the frying pan.  Over the past several decades, the oil price has fluctuated tremendously, much like the EKG of an individual whose vital signs have run amuck.

Unfortunately, no seems to notice, and no one seems to care (George Carlin).  However, the market and traders have grown accustomed to the volatile trading insanity as the oil price rises and falls 3-5% in a day.  Today, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude oil price has been down more than 4%:

And if we consider that the oil price was trading at $74 just last week, it is now down a stunning 8%.  However, if we look at the oil price over a six-month period, the price fluctuations are even more significant:

When the stock markets suffered a correction at the end of January, the oil price fell 12% in a matter of a few weeks.  And more recently, the oil price shot up 15% from a low of $64 to a closing high of $74.  This huge 15% increase took place in the last two weeks of June.

With the world producing and selling 80+ million barrels of oil per day, large oil price fluctuations cause a great deal of stress in the overall markets.   According to the study on Oil Price Volatility: Causes, Effects, and Policy Implications^[1]:

Sharp, rapid swings in the price of oil can have outsize effects on companies, economies, and global geopolitics. Oil price spikes can stunt economic growth, for example, and a sudden price plunge...

(IDEX Online) – The London Diamond Bourse (LDB) has announced that Chief Operating Officer Victoria McKay will be stepping down after six years.

“Victoria has played a critical role in positioning the LDB as a progressive bourse worldwide and has transformed us from an inwardly focused private members club into a respected professional trade association with a global profile,” commnted bourse president Alan Cohen.
 
“On behalf of the Council of Management, I would like to thank her for many significant achievements; not least the past three years of all-consuming work while she headed our team to find a new suitable home for the LDB. The trade will never know just what a mammoth task this has been.
 
“McKay will remain in the short term to complete the final stages of what has been a very long and complex negotiation, with dozens of specialist firms, legal matters and advisors to contend with.  Her strength and fortitude have brought us to the point of signing the lease for our new home together with delivering a plan to expand our operation in the future.
 
“In an effort to create a thriving diamond bourse and hub space, Victoria will be engaged by the bourse as a consultant to manage the launch of the new space on the LDB’s behalf.”
 
Stacey Aylott will take over the reins of the day to day running of the bourse, being promoted from Executive Assistant to Operations Manager. ...

(Reuters) - The narrowing gap between yields on long-term and short-term Treasury bonds to little more than the equivalent of one rate hike from the Federal Reserve has helped sour at least one U.S. central banker on any further interest rates increases.

FILE PHOTO: California Republican gubernatorial primary candidate Neel Kashkari speaks on stage during the California Republican Party Spring Convention in Burlingame, California, U.S. on March 16, 2014 REUTERS/Stephen Lam/File Photo

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari, who does not vote this year on Fed policy but takes part in the U.S. central bank’s regular discussion of interest-rate policy, said Monday that the flat yield curve means interest rates are close to neutral.

“This suggests that there is little reason to raise rates much further, invert the yield curve, put the brakes on the economy and risk that it does, in fact, trigger a recession,” he said in a blog post. “If inflation expectations or real growth prospects pick up, the Fed can always raise rates then.”

The Fed has lifted interest rates twice this year already, and last month signaled it will likely do so twice more before the year is out, in large part because unemployment, at 4 percent, is low by historical standards, inflation has begun to perk up, and stimulus from tax cuts and government spending are forecast to boost growth further.

Still, the gap between yields on the ten- and two-year Treasuries hit a fresh 11-year low earlier Monday and is currently around just 25 basis points.

(Graphic: The Incredible Shrinking Yield Curve - reut.rs/2NiIZy4^[1])

A yield curve is said to invert when yields on short-term debt exceed...

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World's Largest Shipping Company Collapses As Trade War Reality Strikes | Zero Hedge Skip to main content ^[1]

References

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