Oil prices have had their strongest start to a calendar year since 2014 on anti-government protests in Iran and ongoing OPEC-led production cuts. February crude is trading at $60.24 a barrel on the New York Merc, it hit its its highest level since June 2015. Brent crude is at $66.58 a barrel after hitting it highest level since May 2015. It’s the first time since January 2014 that both crude oil benchmarks have opened the year above $60 a barrel.
Shoppers in the U.S. racked up an average of $1,054 of debt this Christmas season. That’s an increase of 5% over last year, according to a survey from personal finance website MagnifyMoney. 44% of shoppers racked up more than $1,000 in holiday debt, and 5% accumulated more than $5,000. Only 50% of those surveyed expected to repay the debt within 3 months, while 29% said they need more than five months to pay it off. 10% of people who took on holiday debt said they would only be able make minimum payments on credit cards.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for 1360 KUIK.
