Energy & Commodities

The I-95 of Fuel Shuts Down

Posted by MAE ANDERSON and FRANK BAJAK

on Monday, 10 May 2021 6:44

The country’s largest gasoline pipeline is mostly out of commission after the system’s operator, Colonial Pipeline, got hit with a ransomware attack.

What happened: On Thursday, the hackers reportedly stole nearly 100 gigabytes of data from Colonial’s computer systems, then locked up its computers and demanded payment. Colonial shut down the pipeline Friday as a precaution.

  • That “double-extortion” scheme is a hallmark of the criminal group DarkSide, which experts consider the prime suspect in this hack.

What are the consequences?

Well, it’s like if officials shut down I-95 and you had to take Route 1, in all its traffic-light glory, from Florida to Maine.

The pipeline is the main source of diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel for the East Coast. It hauls more than 100 million gallons of fuel a day from Gulf Coast refineries to major hubs up the coast, including airports in Atlanta, North Carolina, and NYC.

So should we expect a toilet paper-like run on gasoline? No, but the total damage will depend on how long the outage lasts. If the pipeline is down five-to-six days, it could lead to shortages and price increases. By last night, Colonial had restored service to some minor parts of its system, but not its four main lines.

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The world’s largest jeweler is ditching diamonds-au-naturel

Posted by Hannah Denham

on Monday, 10 May 2021 6:29

 

Millennials kill another time-honored tradition

Lab-grown diamonds (LGD) are made in pressurized ovens with the same clarity and brilliance as their earth-made counterparts for ⅓ of the cost.

Perhaps more importantly for industry, LGDs can be produced in weeks instead of the billions of years a natural diamond takes to form.

In recent years, spending habits have shifted away from natural diamonds. Many younger buyers are now opting for lab-grown diamonds, which they say are more affordable, environmentally friendly, and ethical.

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The per-ton price of hot-rolled coil steel, 3x the 20-year average. (AKA not a steal).

Posted by Matt Egan

on Monday, 10 May 2021 6:20

Steel prices have tripled. Now Bank of America is sounding the alarm

New York (CNN Business)A bubble could be brewing in steel stocks.

The pandemic brought the American steel industry to its knees last spring, forcing manufacturers to shut down production as they struggled to survive the imploding economy. But as the recovery got underway, mills were slow to resume production, and that created a massive steel shortage.
Now, the reopening of the economy is driving a steel boom so strong that some are convinced it will end in tears.
“This is going to be short-lived. It’s very appropriate to call this a bubble,” Bank of America analyst Timna Tanners told CNN Business, using the “b-word” that equity analysts from major banks typically avoid.
After bottoming out around $460 last year, US benchmark hot-rolled coil steel prices are now sitting at around $1,500 a ton, a record high that is nearly triple the 20-year average.
Steel stocks are on fire. US Steel (X), which crashed to a record low last March amid bankruptcy fears, has skyrocketed 200% in just 12 months. Nucor (NUE) has spiked 76% this year alone.
While “scarcity and panic” are lifting steel prices and stocks today, Tanners predicted a painful reversal as supply catches up with what she described as unimpressive demand.
“We expect this will correct — and often when it corrects, it over-corrects,” said Tanners, a two-decade veteran of the metals industry who authored a report last week headlined “Steel stocks in a bubble.”

Trading Desk Notes For May 8, 2021

Posted by Victor Adair

on Saturday, 8 May 2021 7:44

 

Stocks, commodities and gold surge higher, the US Dollar falls

The S+P 500, the Dow Jones Industrials and Transports, and the TSE Index closed the week at All-Time Highs. The Transports (up ~145% since March 2020 lows) have closed higher for 14 consecutive weeks – for the first time in their 137 year history.

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Hands Free ? – No, Not Really

Posted by Trend Disruptors /by Trend Letter

on Friday, 7 May 2021 15:27

There are many uses for biometric security measures, using scanners that recognize a person’s fingerprints, thumbprints, and iris, for example. Hand-held wands and full body scanners are quite commonplace in airports, and other locations where security is important for detecting and mitigating risk. Most of us accept the need for this technology, even though it may seem somewhat invasive. We live in a world where threats are more common, and most people are willing to give up an ounce of privacy to gain a pound of security. Biometric scanning technology has advanced a great deal in recent years, but can scanning technology do more than detect risk or provide secure access to a facility?  Amazon thinks it can.

In 2019 Amazon developed a patented scanning technology that takes biometrics in another direction, where your palm…Click to read full article.