We are numb with grief over last weekend’s mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, a neighboring community to M. Holland’s headquarters and home to many Mployees. Fortunately, all Mployees are safe and accounted for, but our hearts and thoughts are with the community after this tragic attack. Our President and CEO Ed Holland shared this message with Mployees this week.
Supply
Oil prices rose 4% Thursday, rebounding from steep losses the previous two sessions.
In mid-day trading today, WTI futures were up 1.7% at $104.40/bbl, Brent was up 2.1% at $106.80/bbl, and U.S. natural gas was down 1.9% at $6.18/MMBtu.
The average U.S. gasoline price fell for 23 consecutive days through Thursday after hitting a record $5.02 a gallon last month. The current price stands at $4.72 a gallon.
U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 8.2 million barrels last week after the government released another batch of strategic reserves, according to the EIA. Inventories are 10% below the average for this time of year.
Shell says refining margins have nearly tripled from Q1 and could bring a $1 billion earnings boost in the current quarter.
Europe’s scramble to replace energy supplies from Russia is causing power shortages in poorer nations across the globe.
More Western producers could be forced to exit their joint ventures as Russia moves to nationalize a second oil and gas project on its Pacific coast north of Japan.
Germany could take a stake of more than 30% in gas supplier Uniper to help protect its investment-grade credit rating.
Chinese lockdowns spurred a 67% collapse in the country’s imports of U.S. coal in the first half of this year.
An explosion at Kazakhstan’s largest oilfield killed two people and injured three Thursday, although authorities say production was uninterrupted.
A heatwave has reduced water levels on the Rhine River, western Europe’s most important waterway, to the lowest seasonal level in 15 years, threatening to hamper the movement of fuel supplies.
The average price for airfreight shipments from Hong Kong to North America fell 10.1% from May to June, according to the Baltic Exchange.
Local officials voted to allow a Port of Oakland terminal to be converted to a sports and residential complex, potentially clearing the way for construction of a new baseball stadium.
RH, the high-end furniture seller formerly known as Restoration Hardware, became the latest furniture retailer to cut its financial targets as consumers pull back on goods spending.
GE Appliances will begin testing electric trucks to ship products between logistics sites in Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee.
The U.S. reported 118,681 new COVID-19 infections and 1,111 virus fatalities Thursday.
COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County rose to a five-month high over Fourth of July weekend.
COVID-19 cases are steadily rising in northern Texas, particularly the Dallas region, where the fast-spreading BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron make up more than half of new infections.
The U.S. trade deficit narrowed by $1.1 billion to a five-month low of $85.5 billion in May, while exports hit a record-high $255.9 billion, driven primarily by industrial supplies and materials.
Layoffs announced by U.S.-based employers surged 57% from May to June, new data shows.
The average U.S. mortgage rate fell from 5.7% to 5.3% last week, the largest one-week drop since 2008.
Home prices in San Francisco Bay rose at an unusually low rate of 2% year over year in June, likely reflecting the choice of more workers to move away from the expensive city as they continue working from home.
National office use hit a pandemic-era high of 44% in early June even as more firms plan real estate reductions in anticipation of an economic downturn.
State debt levels rose 4% in 2021, the fastest rate in five years amid historically low interest rates and strong investor demand for municipal bonds.
France unveiled a $20.35 billion inflation-relief package on Thursday that will include new fuel discounts and rent caps.
The Chinese government is considering a $220 billion sale of special municipal bonds in the second half of this year, an unprecedented acceleration of infrastructure funding aimed at boosting the country’s lagging economy.
The number of emerging markets with distressed debt has more than doubled in the past six months, threatening to drag the developing world into a cascade of defaults.
Global funding for startups fell 23% quarter over quarter, one of the steepest declines in a decade as more venture capitalists bow out of the current financing market.
Britain’s labor market grew at its slowest pace in 16 months in June, signaling a potential return to pre-pandemic normalcy, according to S&P Global.
British housing prices rose 13% year over year in June, the largest rise since 2004.
Hong Kong’s airport is unveiling a third runway that will increase its footprint by 50% today, part of an $18 billion expansion project that comes as flight capacity to and from the island has nearly halted due to pandemic restrictions.
China unveiled a raft of new steps to encourage passenger vehicle demand, including new tax breaks for electric vehicles and infrastructure spending to expand the nation’s charging network.