Gas Prices Will Be Coming Down Again

Very choppy equity market.  I am glad to be out in cash for a few days now as it tries to discover the new trend.  The dip in oil again spooked the market.  Just when the DAX in Germany was rallying 1.5%, the markets plummeted shortly after the open in the US on the back of a downgrade from Goldman Sachs regarding a major oil services company.

This helped push down another extraordinary 5% drop in oil futures.  Have you seen the gas prices lately? WOW!  I honestly didn’t think I see gas under $1 a litre ever again!  Passing a gas station last night said “0.84c”.  So glad I replace 2 oil furnaces last year with “cheaper” geothermal…good grief…well at least it’s better for the environment!

In the broad market, I suspect there will be a recovery tomorrow, but it may depend on earnings from the big banks and Retail sales for December that is out at 8:30am.  Certainly JC Penny surprised to the upside in their sales last week, so perhaps there will be further cheer for the retail industry if their numbers were a taster for what is to come.  Alcoa kicks off earnings season after the close today.

Market News:

U.S. stocks declined on Monday, extending a two-week slide, as worries about the falling price of oil took hold before the start of quarterly earnings.

Oilfield-services provider Schlumberger declined after Goldman Sachs Group downgraded its shares to neutral from buy, while also cutting its outlook for benchmark oil prices.

Exxon Mobil and Chevron led blue-chip declines, which had a 56-point gain quickly evaporating and the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling as much as 157 points and lately off 114.06 points, or 0.7 percent, at 17,623.31.

The S&P 500 shed 18.78 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,026.03, with energy leading declines and telecommunications the sole sector in the green among its 10 major industry groups.

The Nasdaq declined 46.24 points, or 1 percent, to 4,657.78.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude futures for February delivery below $46 a barrel for the first time since April 2009, ending down 4.7 percent, at $46.09 a barrel; gold futures rose to $1,232.80 an ounce.

After the close, Alcoa reports fourth-quarter results, marking the unofficial start to the earnings season. The aluminum producer gained after Nomura Holdings advised purchasing its shares.

JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup are among the major banks scheduled to report earnings later in the week.

Wednesday:

Earnings before the bell: JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo

8:30 a.m. Eastern: Retail sales for December

8:30 a.m.: Import prices

10 a.m.: Business inventories for November

2 p.m.: Beige Book

News Sources:  CNN Money & CNBC