Business Insight Zone

Just a few more to round out the week . . .

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House foreclosures go up — for borrowers with good and bad credit alike — as do layoffs in the mortgage industry. Film at 11.

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For more analysis of Jim Press’s surprising move from Toyota to Chrysler — discussed yesterday — see this NYT piece from Micheline Maynard.

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Given strapped gasoline inventories in the US, must prices at the pump go up? That’s the thrust of this Oil Drum item from Robert Rapier.

The next few weeks will be interesting. We are at the end of peak driving season, but we will soon be heading into fall turnaround season where gasoline production will drop. Winter gasoline is also right around the corner. This time of year typically sees gasoline prices fall (prompting conspiracy calls when it also happens to be an election year) but with inventories where they are we probably won’t see that typical price drop. In my opinion, we can’t afford to see it. Last fall prices fell, and demand picked up. We can’t afford for demand to pick up with inventories setting where they are.

Category: Economics, Energy, Finance & Real Estate, Transportation