Category Archives: E.U.
Oil Has a Negative Attitude
Now even oil has a negative attitude. The price of West Texas Crude went negative yesterday. Nobody wants to buy the stuff. So producers were theoretically willing to pay you $37.63 at one point to take a barrel off their hands.
That was the price on a May contract which expires today. So if you have a tanker parked somewhere, now’s the time. The price on June contracts and later should move back up to positive territory.
Pippa Stevens at CNBC explains why.
Meanwhile, negative interest rates could be on the way to a bank near you. Thanks to negative rates in Europe and Japan, savers pay institutions there to store their money for them.
And, if you’re feeling nostalgic, here’s a cartoon in memory of high gas prices.
Harley Davidson Trade War Surrender Monkey
President Trump thinks Harley-Davidson is a traitorous Trade War surrender monkey. It wasn’t always that way. That is until the E.U. slapped a 31% tariff on the company in response toTrump’s 25% tariffs on E.U. steel and aluminum.
Trump had considered Harley to be part of his base. But he left the motor cycle maker in a tough spot. His tariffs coupled the E.U. hit could add $2,200 to the price of each bike.
Harley’s customer base consists of American Baby Boomers. And they’re getting too old and fat to ride the Hogs. So the company looked abroad, building plants in Brazil, India and Thailand. And it plans a new plant in the E.U. which would dodge the tariff.
Trade War Surrender Monkey
That didn’t sit well with Trump. He tweeted that Harley raised the “white flag” and he threatened to tax them like “never before.”
Whatever that means.
