Author: News Room
Illustration by Elias Stein Even after oil prices surged this past week following a surprise OPEC production cut, oil traders don’t seem convinced prices will keep rising. In fact, oil futures seem to expect prices to retreat after the near-term price shock. While the nearest-term Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, were up 6.6%, to $85.05 per barrel, on the week through Thursday, futures expiring in December 2023 rose 4.6%, to $81.50. The fact that December futures are trading at lower levels than today’s prices looks bearish: Why buy oil stocks if oil prices will fall by year end? But…
The numbers: Deposits at U.S. banks rose slightly in the last week of March, but lending to businesses declined for the second week in a row. Deposits rose at both large and small banks, according to data released Friday by the Federal Reserve. The deposit figures are unadjusted. There has been a sharp drop-off in lending. There has been a sharp drop-off in lending since the Silicon Valley Bank collapse. Total commercial and industrial loans fell $68 billion over the two weeks since the startling bank run led the government to close the bank. Key details: Deposits at large U.S.-owned…
Inditex plans new U.S. stores and relocations of its Zara retailer. Dreamstime Zara’s owner Inditex is looking to the U.S. as an engine for growth. If American shoppers can be tempted to spend more on its fast-fashion outfits, investors should find the shares are a good fit. Inditex’s (ticker: ITX.Spain) expansion in the U.S. has been cautious. It only has 101 U.S. stores, having opened its first in New York in 1989. That could change under CEO Oscar Garcia Maceiras, who has been in charge for just over a year. Over the next two years the company plans 30 projects—including…
