U.S. oil price rises above $36… UAE follows OPEC deals with Jan, Feb cuts… Expectations of slowing energy demand weigh

Oil rose above $36 a barrel on Friday after the United Arab Emirates joined leading exporter Saudi Arabia in deepening supply curbs in line with OPEC’s biggest ever output cut announced last week.

U.S. crude gained $1.01 to $36.36 a barrel by 1219 GMT, off a session high of $36.90.

London Brent rose 94 cents to $37.55.

“The only positive news (for the market)… came from the UAE,” Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix wrote in a report. “For now at least, Saudi Arabia and the UAE seem to be fully complying with the cuts.”

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC), the main producer in the UAE, the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter, said it would cut supplies of February Murban and Upper Zakum allocations

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The following poem was cut from the top of my MoneyandMarkets.com column (A style=FONT-WEIGHT: bold href=http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/3-stock-ing-stuffers-2-289703 Stock-ing Stuffers/A,) today ...brbrEMTwas the eve before Christmas,brand all through the nightbrSean’s mind was whirring,brWith stocks that could ignite/EMbrbrPoetry is subjective, and everyone's a critic.brbrBefore we get to the serious stuff, A href=http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/brokerjoe_2008.pdfSTRONGhere's some/STRONG/A Christmas cheer (and humor) from the A href=http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/brokerjoe_2008.pdfSTRONGWall Street Journal./STRONG/A Click through for a laugh.brbrNow then ...brbrA href=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087sid=aFgHlh.Dn4Lcamp;refer=homeSTRONGWill the Japanese Launch a 'Marshall Plan' to Save the US?/STRONG/AbrThe dollar may lose as much as 40 percent of its value to 50 yen or 60 yen from the current spot rate of 90.40 today in Tokyo unless Japan takes “drastic measures” to help bail out the U.S. economy.brThe Japanese government could use a new Marshall Plan as a chance to shrink its $976.9 billion in foreign-exchange A href=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=JNFRTOTL%3AIND t_delay=50 t_width=110 t_bgcolor=#ddedd9 t_fontface=Verdana,sans-serif t_fontcolor=#000000 t_static=true t_above=trueSTRONGreserves/STRONG/A, the world’s second-largest after China’s, and ...

It was cloudy in the Algerian city of Oran on Wednesday…and a fairly pleasant 14 degrees in the open air… But the assembled leaders of the OPEC oil exporters’ cartel must have been feeling rather hot under the collar. Since hitting a peak of $147 in July this year, the price of oil has fallen by about $100. That has put the oil exporting countries under a huge amount of pressure. And now they are determined to drive the price of oil back up again.

Global oil production is set to fall sharply

On Wednesday, the cartel announced that it will slash daily oil production by 2.46 million barrels a day. That’s OPEC’s biggest production cut ever. What’s even more extraordinary is that some of the big the non-OPEC producers are now coordinating their production cuts with the cartel.

The Russians attended the OPEC meeting and they may cut announce their own

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strongThe Guardian - Comment is Free /strongbr /br /emA slide in the value of Russian currency has led many to cash out their modest savings and punt for either dollar or eurobr / /embr /br /strongBy Jason Corcoran/strongbr /br /guardian.co.uk, Wednesday November 19 2008 20.00br /br /The financial crisis is quickly transforming Russia into a nation of desperate currency speculators due to a slide in the rouble's value and a deposit run gathering pace at the banks. br /br /For many ordinary Russians, it's a game of roulette as they cash out their modest savings and punt for either dollar or euro.br /br /The cards are stacked in favour of a dollar bet as Russians have a love affair with the greenback dating back to last financial crisis in 1998, when a rouble devaluation wiped out their savings. br /br /Pensioners tuning into national TV last week may well ...

Brazilian stocks have been pummeled in October’s global market rout. But Martin Hutchinson says this has created a great opportunity for profits. South America’s largest economy still has a robust growth outlook and moderate inflation. He says these six “bargain basement” stocks are now well worth a look.

More from Money Morning:

Like most other markets, Brazil has been battered by the credit crisis – the BOVESPA index is currently down 28% in October alone and no less than 52% from its peak as recently as May. It now appears to represent excellent value, with a historic Price/Earnings (P/E) ratio of only7.0.

But are Brazil’s prospects good enough to justify investing there?

Brazil was included in the “BRIC” (Brazil, Russia, India and China) group of rapidly emerging markets that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) created in 2003. At that time the country didn’t deserve the distinction. Long-term growth since

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As equities commence the dramatic Autumn slump I've been anticipating in recent weeks, it is uninspiring to witness the standard of political debate in the US Presidential election. It seems neither candidate is aware, or at least willing to articulate, the tectonic shifts taking place in global financial power which threaten to severely limit the room for manoeuvre of any future administration, not only economically, but diplomatically and militarily as well. We hear references to Iran and Russia as geopolitical challenges, but nobody is talking yet about a bigger threat right on America's doorstep, the potential implosion of the Mexican state. There are two pressing issues that are putting intolerable stresses on the Mexican economy and society; the first is the huge escalation in drug related violence and corruption, as US support for the Colombian war on drugs has displaced Cartel activity into Mexico, now the primary base for ...

Article Source: A potentially huge story from the New York Times. NYT reports: Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, is planning to increase its output next month by about a half-million barrels a day, according to analysts and oil traders who have been briefed by Saudi officials. The increase could bring Saudi output to a production level of 10 million barrels a day, which, if sustained, would be the kingdom's highest ever. The move was seen as a sign that the Saudis are becoming increasingly nervous about both the political and economic effect of high oil prices. In recent weeks, soaring fuel costs have incited demonstrations and protests from Italy to Indonesia. Saudi Arabia is currently pumping 9.45 million barrels a day, which is an increase of about 300,000 barrels from last month. Data source: 2004 through March 2008: EIA; April-June: numbers discussed in NYT article....

CRUDE OIL

And yet prices keep going higher …

Angola is scheduled to start shipping a new blend of crude oil in July, boosting production by about 90,000 barrels a day. Iraqi oil production rose to more than 2.5 million barrels a day last week, the highest this year. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has said it will raise daily output by 300,000 barrels a day to 9.45 million barrels next month after requests from customers.

Can’t Find Enough Oil Is Lament of BP, Exxon, Shell With Record Investment Never have so many oil and gas companies spent so much to produce so little.

Saudi Arabia’s Oil Production Increase Is Unjustified, OPEC Members Say Saudi Arabia’s decision to increase oil output

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