Oil Falls Sharply... For Once
Today a couple interesting things happened in the markets that have been rare occurrences in the markets. For starters the NYSE rallied up more than 200 points (of course it later gave the gains back and then some which is not all that unusual of late). Also, oil fell to $105 per barrel before settling back just under $110 per barrel. Third, the dollar ended slightly stronger rising .8% to 1.4501 dollars per euro. Don't get too excited about a bottom or that we're out of the woods yet. Come next week it will probably again be "Oil rose on fears of _______ (insert war in a little known country, natural disaster somewhere without running water or any other reason you'd like).
While the relief in oil prices is great, consumers probably won't see relief at the pump here until refiners ramp up capacity or the vertically integrated oil companies start taking a smaller cut over every step of the supply chain (unlikely to say the least).
Photo Credit: freewine @ flickr
Stats: Oil Price Plunge @ NYTIMES
The common yellow cab will begin to look a little different in NYC in the future. Mayor Bloomberg has made a push to go green. He decided to require all NYC taxis to be hybrids by 2012. Although I'm all for programs that improve the environment, even if slightly, my gut reaction was that these added costs were going to be passed right along to consumers. The Mayor says that the costs will be offset by increased fuel savings. The hybrid power train is perfect for the stop and go traffic of NYC, but I'm thinking that those of you in the city may see increased cab fares in the near future.
