Oil jumps past $126/bbl. Inflation in the Eurozone means the European Central Bank won’t be cutting rates anytime soon. And, with the EU economy larger than the US economy (yes, you read that right, we’re no longer the world’s largest unified economy), Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s hands are tied and his efforts on the US economy more limp and impotent all the time, as he lives up to his moniker of Worst Fed Head Since Greenspan™.
The oil surge was prompted by Venezuela jitters as the country and President Hugo Chavez’s ties to FARC rebels in Columbia are closer than the US first thought. If the US tries sanctions against Chavez, he might just turn off the pumps. And, since most of the oil industry in Venezuela is nationalized, he can do that.
Ag costs surged because the USDA expects corn production to drop 7 percent this year due to wet-weather planting delays.
Soybean futures were up mildly, while rice futures in Asian stock markets climbed the maximum permissible. The Myanmar cyclone devastation is certain to have a major impact on its rice crop. And, if reports are true that the country could have 500,000 dead, obviously the rice harvest is problematic anyway.
Oh, and I guess somebody forgot to give Uncle Fester Cheney the memo that the US economy was no longer No. 1.
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