Coronavirus

[Corn Pop]

No new cases here over the last few.days. I think it's under control.

 

[JohnDB]

Now the price has dropped I need to invest in oil.

That makes you what they call a "Bottom Feeder". LOL...
But I would be one too if I was interested in such things.

But the real problem is OPEC. Not Corona Virus. Sure, Corona was dropping the price of the futures market for Oil demand...all the reduced bookings on cruise ships and airplanes and shipping in general (except for toilet paper to Australia).
OPEC is nothing more that a group of countries that collaborate to keep the price of oil at prices that they like by reducing the supply of oil. Of course most of them cheat to some level...and that cheating helps configure the price too.
BUT
Russia and Saudi Arabia have gotten into a tiff over the amount of oil Russia could sell. S. A. always getting the lion's share of capability. Russia can produce another 31 million barrels of oil per day. Saudis can only produce another ~1.5 MBPD.
So...both have gone into producing and selling all that they can. They have left the table with absolutely no agreement whatsoever...and no plans to make one.(Cheapest oil always rules)
Now...what is really needed is refined oil products...and if either of the two could actually get refineries up and going...that would really move some oil products. Diesel, gasoline, motor oil, and etc would really help a lot and really drive the price down. Oil isn't really generic. It is determined what it will produce by the location it comes from and it's chemical composition. Some oil will make great motor oil, home heating oil, and diesel, (Ethiopia, Texas, Saudi, Russia) Some makes great plastics and vulcanized rubber (Canada, Ethiopia) and some makes great gasoline (South America and Mexico)
All this stuff has uses...all has by-products that we also use in great quantities...such as pigments for inks and paints, vitamins, fertilizers, wax and polishes, asphalt and sealing compounds, and grease.

The biggest problem we have is the refineries. We don't have nearly enough and most of the existing refineries have expanded to their maximum capacity...using as much land as they could grab. (EPA really clamped down) Offshore refining in the gulf and off the coast has really taken off...but it doesn't help where pipelines don't go.

So...we may see L.S. Crude at $20/barrel. $40 for sure.

Gas, here in America, will be under $2.00/gallon for most areas.

Now, with the corona virus, plus the lack of travel, embargos, and political unrest that low oil prices create...there is a lot of uncertainty out there causing the market to tank the last week and will continue to tank this week.

 

[humble soul]

The whole of Italy in lockdown.

 

[jasonc]

The whole of Italy in lockdown.

All those meatballs,linguine..man that will hurt ..

 

[JohnDB]

The whole of Italy in lockdown.

I thought that it was just the Northern sections...by Austria, France, Switzerland and Germany....(I'm forgetting someone...I just can't remember who)

 

[Edward]

The whole of Italy in lockdown.

Ok, so we're praying for Wondering and Italy now.

 

[JohnDB]

Italy expands its quarantine to the entire country as coronavirus cases and deaths surge

Italian officials previously announced a lockdown of the Lombardy region, which is the part of the country hardest hit by COVID-19.

www.cnbc.com

 

[Corn Pop]

What's the Pope doing these days?

 

[Corn Pop]

I'm at the dock fishing, it's blowing a real strong southerly, the city is south, best it not blow corona my way.

The wind is like a big sneeze.

 

[humble soul]

My current occupation is school cleaner. Casual status. Which means no work no pay. No sick pay.
1) hope the school doesnt get closed
2) Hope I dont get sick

 

[Corn Pop]

I wonder what Kahn had to say. I mean if terrorists that kill people are just part n parcel of living in a city then I guess the same would go for a deadly bio virus, what's the difference, both are deadly viruses, just carry on as normal.

That's why convicted terrorists should never be released, they are a releasing a dangerous virus back into society.

 

[humble soul]

what if? worry warts like me ask that question daily. Even when there is no covid 19.

 

[Delete_me]

Just a thought. It may be a good time to think up a good self-quarantine plan, in case you have to. Like plan a retreat out in the woods, spend some time with God. These quarantines and lockdowns seem like such a non-life to me; I question if it's worth it. But you can turn a lemon into lemonade.

 

[Michael74]

Now the price has dropped I need to invest in oil.

You mean like buy a quart of oil at the auto parts store, and sell it on Ebay when the price goes back up?

 

[Corn Pop]

Just a thought. It may be a good time to think up a good self-quarantine plan, in case you have to. Like plan a retreat out in the woods, spend some time with God. These quarantines and lockdowns seem like such a non-life to me; I question if it's worth it. But you can turn a lemon into lemonade.

I'm always in self quarantine.

 

[Corn Pop]

You mean like buy a quart of oil at the auto parts store, and sell it on Ebay when the price goes back up?

I filled my tank today as oil prices dropped. I think the government still takes the same tax rate. Well double tax, or for some cities a triple tax on gas so it's still expensive.

 

[Corn Pop]

Snow White only has 6 dwarfs now. Sneezy is in quarantine.

 

[Michael74]

I filled my tank today as oil prices dropped.

Oh, that will work. We can top off the tank to invest in inexpensive oil.

 

[JohnDB]

So far...
The virus is limited in America to those who have been in the airports.

I know that two of the three cases here in middle Tennessee have flown in an airplane domestically. Boston and I can't remember...west coast?

I did some research about how flu pandemics worked. From the late '50s to recent years. And they follow people groups. Huge groups but groups just the same.
There was one in '77 and '78 that was rather suspicious but it predominantly was focused on adolescent children. Didn't seem to make it into the adult population much.

So far this pandemic seems focused on travellers. This is the focus of Italy's isolation...lots of travellers. Indeed, all of America's cases involve those in the travel industry...TSA workers and travellers.

I'm waiting to see where it settles in.

 

[JohnDB]

The students at Vanderbilt University have had all their classes cancelled until the end of March. The medical center side still needs to go to work.