The US stock market, European, Japanese, actually all of it.
Sorry, the "Our" meant US but I should have included world stock markets!
Slack demand for energy is more a symptom than a cause. Indeed, since energy is a factor of production, all finished good production tends to get a cost decrease as a result of cheap energy.
All that said, Rip, you know I consider you a bit of a kindred spirit here on the bbs... I'd contend, regarding the glut, that the low-cost producers are trying to break those whose margin are a bit tighter - and you know which is which, in geopolitical terms. Combine that with slack demand and production and here we are.
As for Zack, yes, yes, have a smeck and a leer over US fopo inconsistency - and then roll out the welcome mat for the Shia superstate. I'd note the relationship b/w this and the US is a bit like the relationship between a 15-yo boy and a Playboy centerfold. The pages may be stuck together, but that girl is unaware of her admirer's wants or throbbing needs in all but the most casual and opportunistic of ways.
Going back to energy, don't worry. Watch the etf "oil". When it hits about $3.50 or, when a raft of marginal developers and refiners file for bankruptcy, BUYBUYBUY - but maybe not that ETF in particular (it's just a good bellwether, but if you look at its asset mix, there are certainly safer plays, like eg, VDE).
There's a slug of hedge fund money sitting on the sidelines waiting to prey on the marginal players and waiting to get back in. Cheap oil will neither last nor be replaced by alternatives any time soon - and a Sunni-Shia conflict is going to catapult the smart investor into nothing but black. This last: I expect it and the video only buttresses that the Saudis are on alert. Last time there was a big Sunni-Shia throwdown in region, the casualties were immense. In any case, don't let the buzz scare you off of a once-in-a-generation energy investment opportunity.
It's wonderful that Boeing got the door opened. I'm sure there are still Reza Pahlavi -era F-14's sitting over there in Iran, corroding quietly away. Let's just hope we don't have a negative experience with the new hardware some time in the future.
