Energy guru Dave Gonigam says speculators were wrongly used as a scapegoat for soaring crude oil prices in the first half of the year. But he thinks they are playing a big role in the current slump, as hedge funds liquidate their commodity assets rapidly. Dave says the supply and demand fundamentals of oil are unchanged. That is why he is still bullish crude in the long term.

This from The Daily Reckoning’s Desidooru Saloon blog:

Remember when speculators were getting blamed for high oil prices?  Remember how I thought it was bogus?  Now oil is down more than 50% from its summer highs.  And this time, I think it’s safe to say speculators have a hand in it.

It looks as if the last time I wrote about the greedy-speculator meme was July 7.  Those were the days, huh?  Those of us sympathetic to the Peak Oil crowd were

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by Edward Hugh: BarcelonaHungary's agony continues with both currency and stock markets falling sharply yesterday while bankers continue to report acute credit shortages. At the same time contagion has started to extend its ugly reach right across eastern Europe, with Ukraine, the Baltics and Serbia (at a minimum) all in ongoing negotiations with the IMF, with the credit crunch which has followed in the wake of the global financial turmoil really starting to bite.

"Many central and eastern European countries simply don't have either the financial strength or the technical expertise to bail out banks,'' said Lars Christensen, a senior emerging-markets analyst at Danske Bank A/S in Copenhagen. "It's like an Iceland look-a-like contest and there are a number of candidates looking very fragile at the moment.''

Emerging-market banks plunged this morning after Standard & Poor's warned that Korea's lenders will struggle to refinance ...

October 10/15/08 Navivest

It was another ugly day for stocks across the board that saw the S&P 500 sell off to the tune of 9.03%, the Dow shed 7.87% and the Nasdaq saw a loss of 8.47%.

On Monday 10/13/08 when the stock market saw that amazing rally on the EU and U.S. government plan to buy stakes in banks, the Dow opened at 8,462.42. With today’s close of 8,577.91, the Dow is now only a hundred and fifteen points above the open on Monday. So we’ve in effect just about lost all those gains.

The concern was the economy, both here in the U.S and abroad. We saw oil for November delivery lose $4.80 today to close at $73.83 as OPEC warned that demand is slowing. As a result, we saw energy and commodity stocks get battered. We also got a report that showed car sales in China slowed last month.

This

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The U.S. financial-services sector is undergoing the broadest restructuring of a single industry in the history of Corporate America, and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) has positioned itself to emerge as one of three clear frontrunners. Indeed, along with Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Bank of America could well emerge from this financial maelstrom as one of the premier players on the global stage: All three will benefit from increasing market share and increased financial intermediation margins as their weaker rivals have failed and/or been taken over in part or in total by a stronger industry player. During the many financial crises that I have analyzed around the world, the result has always been the same: The prudently managed, under-levered institutions that did not overstretch their capital bases and that were ...

In a move that underscores the potential of China’s auto market - as well as the viability of so-called "green" technology - investing guru Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holding Co. will pay roughly $230 million for a 10% stake in BYD Co. Ltd., a Chinese producer of both cars and specialized batteries.

The rate of increase in Brazil's retail sales accelerated again in July, indicating t that sustained domestic demand may well allow Latin America's largest economy to weather the fall in commodity prices rather better than expected. Retail sales were up an inflation corrected 11 percent in July, following a revised 8.2 percent increase in June. Sales rose in June at the slowest pace in 14 months, according to data from the national statistics agency. Evidently domestic demand is still robust and four central bank interest rate increases since April have far from throttled Brazilian domestic demand, which had been contributing to the upward movement in annual inflation - to around 6.5% - well above the mid-point of the central bank's target range (4.5 percent plus or minus 2 percentage points), but still significantly below the levels seen ...

Several Money Morning readers have written to ask about steel-sector stocks, which have taken investors on a roller-coaster ride in the past year. After analyzing the sector, I came to one very strong conclusion: With its terrific fundamentals, Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) is poised for significant gains. Steel stocks, which had seen a 36% climb this year, have sold off dramatically and are now down about 16% for the year.  That’s a 42% drop from their peak. Wow! Shares of the Charlotte, N.C.-based Nucor could not escape the carnage and have endured an even bigger swing: From their low of $50.30 a share in early January, the shares of the No. 1 U.S. steelmaker soared 66% to a trade at a high of $83.56. From their peak, Nucor’s shares have declined 42%, closing Friday at $48.45. They’re down 18% for the ...

Stocks finished mixed during a rough session that saw further declines in commodities and commodities stocks. The Dow managed to finish with a gain of 15.96 points, or 0.14%, to 11532. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 15.51 points, or 0.66%, to 2333. The S&P 500 also declined 2.59 points, or 0.20%, to 1274.

Once again, falling crude prices and a strengthening dollar did little to comfort investors after the auto companies reported sales that slid more than analyst’s estimates and the Fed Beige Book showed increasing inflationary pressures.

General Motors (GM) saw car sales fall 20% in August year-over-year. For Ford ( F), it was even worse, falling 27%. But even the mighty Toyota (TM) wasn't spared, as it saw sales fall 9.4%. As expected truck sales were awful which hurt Ford, the maker of the popular F-Series truck, the hardest.

The Fed Beige Book painted

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Stocks finished mixed during a rough session that saw further declines in commodities and commodities stocks. The Dow managed to finish with a gain of 15.96 points, or 0.14%, to 11532. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 15.51 points, or 0.66%, to 2333. The S&P 500 also declined 2.59 points, or 0.20%, to 1274.

Once again, falling crude prices and a strengthening dollar did little to comfort investors after the auto companies reported sales that slid more than analyst’s estimates and the Fed Beige Book showed increasing inflationary pressures.

General Motors (GM) saw car sales fall 20% in August year-over-year. For Ford ( F), it was even worse, falling 27%. But even the mighty Toyota (TM) wasn't spared, as it saw sales fall 9.4%. As expected truck sales were awful which hurt Ford, the maker of the popular F-Series truck, the hardest.

The Fed Beige Book painted

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We should see Wall Street start off with a nice rally this morning, though I won't place a bet on where the day ends. Markets are terribly oversold and yesterday's action ended in a bullish reversal on high volume at support -- that's VERY bullish.And yet we seem to get more terrible news all the time ...BAD NEWS FOR THE CONSUMER ...

Auto sales plunge

June auto sales plunged, according to reports from the nation's major automakers, as Americans shunned pickups and SUVs in the face of record gas prices. General Motors reported that its U.S. sales fell 18% in June versus a year ago. Sales of GM's light trucks, which includes pickups, SUVs and so-called crossovers, tumbled 16%. GM's car sales dropped 21% in the month.

BAD NEWS ON INFLATION ...

Manufacturers struggle to overcome rising prices

NEW YORK - Each week, Ira Cooper opens

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