Oil prices are lower for a second straight day as traders worry that OPEC production cuts won’t be enough to reduce the global supply glut that’s keeping a lid on prices. November crude fell 1.1%, to $50.75 a barrel. On Thursday traders took profits after four straight sessions of gains. Not even upbeat comments from Mohammad Barkindo, Secretary-General of OPEC, could lift the markets as analysts question whether the cartel’s efforts to balance the market will work.
The Wall Street Journal reports Vice President Mike Pence favors Stanford economist John Taylor to lead the Federal Reserve. Yesterday President Trump met with the current chairman Janet Yellen, to discuss another term. Conservative Fed critics reportedly have an ally in Pence, who sat in on Trump’s interview with Taylor. Pence in Congress favored eliminating the Fed’s dual mandate of controlling inflation and full employment and have it focus only on inflation. Taylor is the intellectual force behind legislation sponsored by House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling that would require the Fed to adopt a mathematical formula to setting interst rates. Yellen has testified repeatedly that she’s against that approach.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for 1360 KUIK.
