March Madness, Market Mayhem, and Energy Evolution: A Week in Review
March Madness is upon us. For today, at least, your brackets are perfect and it won’t be long before they are busted. If you are an alum of Wagner, Howard, Stetson or Longwood then now’s your chance to go mental. If you’re a Seton Hall fan, you’re all sad. Let us not forget that the NCAA wrestling finals will also take place this weekend, while The Tank Tiger and many of you will be at the IPC AFPM in San Antonio. Aaaahh…once again we descend on the Riverwalk where we will eat our guac and let it rock. If you’ll be in town, please let us know. That’s right, if you have chemicals with names that you can’t pronounce, The Tank Tiger will endeavor to find a tank that can contain them. There is no charge for our service…talk about Madness!
The stock market had its second-straight weekly loss, as the inflation numbers keep popping up like whack a mole. The fantasy of aggressive rate cuts now seems to flip flop between an oasis and a mirage. Knowing this, the language that the Fed chooses this week will be watched closely. Meanwhile the U.S. House passed a bill that would ban the TikTok app from the phones of all Americans unless the company divests from its Chinese parent firm. So that means no more videos of cats talking to each other. Too bad. The one where one cat smotes the other on the head repeatedly with its paw is a good one. Oh well.
On the energy front, there is more and more news coming out about automakers retreating on their EV plans and reallocating capital into goods (ie fossil fueled vehicles) that make money for them. WTI futures ended the week at $81.04 per barrel as the IEA stated that world oil demand in 2024 will increase by 1.3 million barrels per day. Domestic drillers appear ready to keep up, increasing the oil and gas rig count to 629, making it the highest it has been in 6 months.
