Barron's: Lumber Prices Are Falling With a Thud. Softer Housing Sales Are Hammering Demand.

By SIMON CONSTABLE

You can almost hear the sound of falling lumber prices, with probably more to go. The Federal Reserve’s slow-but-steady war on inflation will crimp demand for wood used in the home-building industry, sending prices down by almost 50%, experts say.

“With reduced disposable income and higher interest rates, it’s very hard to see the confidence for buying homes at these prices,” says Shawn Hackett, president of Hackett Financial Advisors. Read more here. 

Tree fellers with the Madera Sugar Pine Company, circa 1911

Madera Sugar Pine Company, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor: #Commodities: #Scotland, #EU, #UK — Natural gas rising indefinitely.

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Listen here.

Joshua Doubek, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

WSJ: Financial Flashback The Libor Scandal

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Exclusively in print.

Briefings Magazine: Energy Prices Hit the Gas

By SIMON CONSTABLE

On the surface, it sounds like the early 1970s, with shortages at gas pumps and homeowners suffering through soaring heat prices. But this isn’t the energy crisis of 1973, when a group of oil-rich Arab countries embargoed oil exports to the US and other countries. It’s actually what is happening in large pockets across the globe, only it has a new name: energy insecurity. Read more here.

NeoRetro, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, 

via Wikimedia Commons

Barron's: Natural-Gas Prices Will Stay High as Demand Outpaces Supply

By SIMON CONSTABLE 

Natural-gas prices could jump by 15% or more by year-end as supplies fall far short of demand, experts say.

“Increasing supply is now getting trickier, and we really don’t see much of a jump until this time next year,” says Peter McNally, an energy expert at Third Bridge. Read more here.

Tim Evanson, CC BY-SA 2.0, 

via Wikimedia Commons

CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor: #Commodities-- Coffee moderates; food and fuel do not.

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Listen here.

Photo by Ivy Aralia Nizar on Unsplash

Forbes China: 德国现70年来最高通胀，欧元借贷成本高于预期

By SIMON CONSTABLE

It's been translated into Chinese from the original English. Read more here.