Senate Election Results Impact On Financial Markets

Market TalkWednesday, Jan 6 2021
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We’ve had a busy couple of weeks’ worth of price action so far in 2021, and we’re just starting our third day of trading. Energy prices have gone from the cusp of a technical breakout to the upside, to a huge reversal that threatened a price collapse, and back again to 10 month highs in just two days. Prices are starting Wednesday’s session with more of a wait-and-see approach after being unable to sustain their rally overnight. OPEC-inspired whiplash is getting most of the credit for the big swings in energy markets, while the Senate election results look like they’ll be the big story today that will likely have broader impacts on financial markets.

Saudi Arabia surprised pretty much everyone Tuesday by announcing it would unilaterally cut its oil output by one million barrels/day, which would allow Russia and other countries to increase their output, without flooding the global market as demand continues to sputter. While the move shocked the markets, which responded with a furious rally in oil and refined product futures, it seems to be in some ways the Kingdom making good on the promise it made in the fall to do whatever is necessary to stabilize the global oil markets and teach speculators a lesson. This move also sets the stage for some interesting political theatre once demand returns, as the Saudi’s will no doubt remember those that supported them in this effort, and probably even more those that did not.

Not buying it? As the basis charts below show, differentials for physical prices in most regional U.S. spot markets dropped on the day as cash markets seem to think the current supply/demand realities are not as optimistic as the futures market action suggests. That hesitation by the big physical traders could be enough to stall the momentum in futures, just as they look like they’re breaking technical resistance and poised for another rally. The API report in the afternoon gave more reason for fundamentalists to have doubts about the recent run-up as both gasoline and diesel saw large very large inventory builds last week (5.5 and 7.1 million barrels respectively) but that report seems to have been largely lost in the shuffle of the bigger news stories. The DOE’s report will be out at its normal time today, but you’ll be forgiven if you miss it while watching the election coverage. 

Early results appear to show that Democrats will win both seats in Georgia, flipping control of the Senate, and giving the party control of Congress and the White House for at least two years. There will surely be some selling as control of the legislative and executive branches will no longer be split, assuming the current calls hold, but some other reports suggest we could see some risk assets rally as this change could also make new fiscal stimulus measures easier to sign into law.

For energy markets in particular, a flip in the Senate will almost certainly mean more aggressive laws to combat climate change, which in some cases may mean tighter restrictions on traditional oil producers and refiners. That is not necessarily bearish for prices however as more restrictions tend to mean less supply (and less investment) which could end up driving an extended rally in prices if demand recovers this year.

The reaction in RIN markets today may give us an early indication of how traders in the refined product space view the changing of the guard in the Senate.  RIN prices have already been surging lately, in sympathy with corn and soybean prices that are reaching multi-year highs largely due to concerns over South American grain exports, and this latest bit of news could encourage another strong rally if the market believes the new congress will push for increased renewable mandates. Then again, the RIN market is notoriously volatile, and there could be some buy the rumor sell the news once the current bout of short covering is over. 

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Pivotal Week For Price Action
Pivotal Week For Price Action
Market TalkWednesday, Mar 27 2024

Most Energy Contracts Are Ticking Lower For A 2nd Day After A Trickle Of Selling Picked Up Steam Tuesday

Most energy contracts are ticking lower for a 2nd day after a trickle of selling picked up steam Tuesday. ULSD futures are down a dime from Monday’s highs and RBOB futures are down 7 cents.

Diesel prices continue to look like the weak link in the energy chain, with futures coming within 1 point of their March lows overnight, setting up a test of the December lows around $2.48 if that resistance breaks down. Despite yesterday’s slide, RBOB futures still look bullish on the weekly charts, with a run towards the $3 mark still looking like a strong possibility in the next month or so.

The API reported crude stocks increased by more than 9 million barrels last week, while distillates were up 531,000 and gasoline stocks continued their seasonal decline falling by 4.4 million barrels. The DOE’s weekly report is due out at its normal time this morning.

RIN values have recovered to their highest levels in 2 months around $.59/RIN for D4 and D6 RINs, even though the recovery rally in corn and soybean prices that had helped lift prices off of the 4 year lows set in February has stalled out. Expectations for more biofuel production to be shut in due to weak economics with lower subsidy values seems to be encouraging the tick higher in recent weeks, although prices are still about $1/RIN lower than this time last year.

Reminder that Friday is one of only 3 annual holidays in which the Nymex is completely shut, so no prices will be published, but it’s not a federal holiday in the US so banks will be open.

Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.

Pivotal Week For Price Action
Market TalkTuesday, Mar 26 2024

Refined Products Seeing Small Losses Of Around A Penny While Crude Oil Contracts Hover Just Above Break Even

Energy futures are taking a breather to start Tuesday’s trading, with refined products seeing small losses of around a penny while crude oil contracts hover just above break even.

No new news on either the Red Sea shipping or Russian Refining attacks this morning, so Cocoa prices seem to be taking over the commodity headlines while energy markets wait on their next big move.

RBOB gasoline futures set a new 6-month high Monday at $2.7711, which leaves the door open on the weekly charts for the spring rally to continue. A run at the $3 mark is certainly possible in the next few weeks before the typical seasonal price peak is set just before the start of driving season.

A container ship lost power and crashed into the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore this morning, causing a devastating collapse. While cargo shipping into the area will no doubt be impacted by this event, fuel supplies are unlikely to see any notable change since the 9 fuel terminals in Baltimore are primarily supplied by Colonial pipeline. Barges from Philadelphia refineries do supplement Baltimore supplies at times, and those vessel flows will be impacted at least until rescue operations are completed and the bridge sections removed from the waterway. That said, since shipping up from the Gulf Coast via Colonial is generally cheaper than shipping an NY Harbor-priced barrel south, the amount of supply disrupted by this event will be minimal.

While we’re still waiting on the official forecasts for the Atlantic Hurricane season, early reports continue to suggest that we could be in for a very busy year due to warm water temperatures and a forming La Nina pattern.

Dallas meanwhile is preparing for a different sort of disruption, with city officials encouraging companies to let employees work from home during the solar eclipse on April 8th as metroplex traffic is expected to surge. While some isolated fuel outages are certainly possible if people start panic buying gasoline they don’t need, there’s no reason to expect any widespread impact from the demand spike.

Today’s interesting read: Why AI requires a staggering amount of electricity and may create supply competition for EVs that will end up benefitting fossil fuels.

Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.