Could government officials (or people to whom they leaked the information) have made insider trades in oil ahead of the coordinated decision last week by the U.S. and the IEA (International Energy Agency) to release millions of barrels of oil reserves into the the world market? more »

Oil dropped more than 2 percent Monday (May 23) as the dollar strengthened and expectations for an economic slowdown in China built. Benchmark crude for July delivery lost US$2.40, or 2.4 percent, to settle at US$97.70 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude gave up US$2.29 or 2 percent, to settle at US$110.10 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. more »

Econintersect by Sanjeev Kulkarni:   In testimony last Thursday in Washington,  ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson objected to a Senate Democratic proposal that would repeal $21 billion in incentives for the companies over 10 years.  The Democrats are pointing… more »

In a surprise move RBI (Reserve Bank of India) has hiked a key interest rate by 50 basis points.  A hike of 25 basis points had been expected by many and some had even argued that not hike was needed at this time.  Sunil Chandra (GEI Analysis) last weekend observed that the bond market was showing behavior that was consistent with a fear of a 50 bp or higher rate hike. more »

Many commodities are up sharply Wednesday April 20, 2011. Not surprisingly, the U.S. dollar is down significantly against several major currencies. more »