Today, all eyes were on the July employment data. The numbers confirmed many economists' fears that high rates have been taking too much of a toll on the labor market to justify the Fed’s central banking policy.
The unemployment rate is up to 4.3%, up from 4.1% last month and the highest since October 2021.
The S&P and Nasdaq ended the week lower than where they began for a third straight week, while Dow snapped its four-week win streak. The Nasdaq hit its lowest level since May today, the S&P 500 fell back to June levels, and the Dow dropped an eye-watering 989 points at one point this afternoon in its worst day of trading since September 2022.
The Dow Jones Industrial Averagefell 1.5% [-610.71]Friday, while the S&P 500 closed 1.8% lower [-100.12] and the Nasdaq slumped 2.4% [-417.98]
The VIX soared to an 18-month high as volatility swept through markets thanks to a worse-than-expected jobs report spurring fears of a recession.
Crude prices held steady for most of the day but wrapped the week with a 4th negative week in a row—despite the sharp uptick earlier this week after heightened geopolitical tension between Israel and Iran.
Amid all the madness, gold stands tall as today’s winner, providing investors with a safe haven to store their wealth. The shiny metal hit yet another all-time high today as investors tried to wait out all of today’s volatility, though it ended up sinking lower by the end of the day as well.
Easing regulatory constraints is a focus of former President Donald Trump's...
Easing regulatory constraints is a focus of former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign. Still, there is little mention of permitting changes -- a problem that could be solved with Trump's endorsement of new permitting legislation introduced by Sens. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., asserts the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal. "[I]f the former President wants to drill, baby, drill, and keep the electricity and energy costs down, he'll need help from Congress to make permitting easier," it writes.
More Trans Mountain crude flowing to US West Coast
According to Vortexa ship-tracking data, the US West Coast received 240,000...
According to Vortexa ship-tracking data, the US West Coast received 240,000 barrels per day of Canadian crude loaded from the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline in July, more than triple the previous month's volumes. Meanwhile, tanker shipments to Asia declined by 45% to 107,000 bpd, reflecting Canada's ongoing struggle to compete with Russian crude in Asian markets.
2 Permian disposal wells shut following earthquakes
The Railroad Commission of Texas has halted operations at two deep disposal...
The Railroad Commission of Texas has halted operations at two deep disposal wells in the Permian Basin in response to a series of recent earthquakes. The regulator also highlighted that several deep saltwater disposal wells have been converted to shallower ones over the past year to mitigate seismic activity.
Chevron announced on Aug. 2 that it will move its headquarters and top leadership from its longtime home in California to Houston, Texas’ unofficial energy capital of the world. The move will be completed by the end of the year.
Chevron Chairman and CEO Mike Wirth and Vice Chairman Mark Nelson will join the headquarters in making the move. They will co-locate with much of Chevron’s other top leadership, which is already based out of its large Houston hub.
