Diesel Demand Signals Growing Economy

[OntarioVanMan]

Joseph Bonney | Oct 15, 2010 4:00PM GMT
The Journal of Commerce Online -

Deliveries in September outpace nine-month average

High demand and rising prices for ultra low-sulfur distillates used in truck diesel fuel are signs of a recovering economy, the American Petroleum Institute said.

September deliveries of ultra-low sulfur diesel averaged 3.1 million barrels a day, up 9.4 percent from September 2009, the institute said in its monthly statistical report. For the first nine months of 2010, ultra-low sulfur deliveries were up 2.4 percent as demand for all key refined products rose.

"The September data suggests a move toward economic recovery," said API Chief Economist John Felmy. "Stronger distillate demand indicates an uptick in industrial activity, while stronger jet fuel and gasoline demand point to increased business and consumer confidence."

Diesel Demand Signals Growing Economy | Journal of Commerce

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Home Construction Rose 10.5 Percent in August | Journal of Commerce
Home construction jumped 10.5 percent in August from the previous month but the housing market sent more tepid signals to the shipping world since the increase came mainly from apartments and condominiums, not the single-family homes sector.

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Factory Orders Rise, Durable Goods Hit Five-Month High | Journal of Commerce

Surge in capital goods orders sends positive signals about shipping

U.S. companies are sending new positive signals about shipping, increasing orders for capital goods other than aircraft in August 4.1 percent over the previous month, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
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GDP, Jobless Claims Improve | Journal of Commerce
GDP, Jobless Claims Improve
Joseph Bonney | Sep 30, 2010 1:43PM GMT
The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story

First-claims for unemployment edge down, Commerce revises GDP up

First-claims for unemployment benefits edged downward last week, the government said in a report with positive implications for freight transportation, while the estimate of second quarter economic growth was revised upward slightly.

Non-Transportation Factory Orders Climb 0.9 Percent | Journal of Commerce

 

[greg334]

1- the indication isn't much. the medium truck orders are down while the heavy duty truck orders are holding steady as fleets replace their older trucks to take advantage of the tax laws.

2 - housing is never a good indicator, but it is 'now threatened' by a moratorium on foreclosures. The Realtor industry is screaming that the housing market will tank if the government and the states move ahead with their investigation of fraud while the people who were marginal in their payments now have a chance to actually save their homes.

3 - unemployment numbers, the real ones that count seem to be holding steady and we need to do something about the 14% unemployment we have. New claims means little in the bigger picture.

4 - the weakening of the dollar still continues, and now there is talk about further "adjusting" it to help with our exports. We need to reexamine our Keynesian attitude and think about returning to a pro-business position within the government while contracting government by 30 or 40% across the board. While this will boast the dollar, the real issue will be increasing interest rates, as it has not helped except make money for wall street and larg investors.

Until we actually see higher than 8% gains while removing any government activity, we are still in serious trouble.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Interest rates are expected to go up...just when the tick comes, no one can say for sure...

 

[greg334]

OVM,
Right now they are at Zero. it needs to be at 6%.

Here is a great scam (I simplified it to keep it short)

You are a bank who has access to the Zero % loan from the fed. You borrow say $150m and then immediately dump all of it into treasuries. Your loan is not due for at least 2 years, so in a year your treasury is mature, you take 3% on top of the investment of $150m and then dump all of it into another treasury. So you start out with a zero % loan, making $9m without doing a thing and it is all tax free. If you compound that to say $3.4B, then we the tax payer is getting screwed and with the feds desire to buy back a lot of treasury notes, it is even worst because they will pay mature prices on immature notes.

The issue is that Obama knows this and is seems he and his treasury secretary set it up to happen this way. While we were falling apart, Obama's rhetiric was hate wall street and like I mentioned what he was saying was a deflection to get us to look the other way. He in fact has help them to make a lot of money, just like what is going to happen with GM.