In the near term, the overall health of inventories is likely to be important.
There is justification for concern about natural gas prices at these levels. Prices now are essentially twice what they were last winter. That's likely to squeeze consumers.
Strong levels of unfilled orders imply a strong U.S. economy and implicitly indicate more manufacturing in the pipelines. Clearly, the industrial sector is likely to remain strong in the near- and medium-term.
We're likely to see prices continue to trend upward. The biggest potential to push prices down is going to be an increase in supply, but right now supplies look pretty fixed.
The bigger question is does OPEC have excess capacity that it can tap into in the longer-term, ... It appears they're unlikely to raise their quotas, and that's not going to assuage market concerns about their capacity.
The call to establish more refineries is likely to be sounded again.
A couple of weeks ago we saw prices were moving toward $70 again. This is a very volatile marketplace but I think on the whole we are likely to see the average price this year higher than last year.
Prices went a lot higher than most of us expected a year ago. The factors that caused prices to surge aren't likely to go away next year. The volatility of the market may even increase.
If it remains this close to 2 percent, then I think economically speaking, we're sitting pretty. I don't think this changes what the Fed does in May. I think another rate hike is likely then. But I think it stems the talk of rates rising as high as 5.25 percent, at least for now.
Oil prices fell through the first half of last month, but commodity prices are still somewhat elevated and we're likely to see energy bounce back in the March report.
At this point, at these prices we're not likely to see a cut. Politically that is not feasible.
He is more likely to focus on geopolitical and security issues. But he might also talk about the job and housing markets.
With gasoline futures at records a nationwide average of $3 at the pump is likely in the near-term.
A correction seems likely if we don't see a further intensifying of the geopolitical crisis. There will have to be further headlines for prices to move higher.
If energy price increases do not prove to be a transitory blip, inflationary fears are likely to increase and Fed hikes are likely to continue,
Next week is a huge week for data, and it is likely to show continued economic growth and inflation well under control.
OPEC is likely to be a critical event next week. A cut in production, however, seems quite unlikely despite slower fourth-quarter U.S. GDP growth out today and a well-supplied market. The specter of oil supply disruption haunts energy markets.