Instead of getting caught up in worry, I suggest keeping emotions out of it and staying focused on the long-term and key economic indicators. To help you do this, we are offering all readers a look into our just-released Stock Market Outlook report. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This 40-page\nreport contains some of our key forecasts to consider such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\nhave $500,000 or more to invest and want to learn more about these forecasts,\nclick on the link below to get your free report today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n IT’S FREE. Download the Just-Released Stock Market Outlook<\/a>1<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crude Oil Prices in\nDecline Since October 2018<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; <\/em><\/strong>U.S. Energy Information\nAdministration, Crude Oil Prices: West Texas Intermediate (WTI) – Cushing,\nOklahoma2<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n From a peak of $75.13 in October, crude oil prices now hover\nbelow $55 a barrel \u2013 even amidst supply concerns emerging from geopolitical\ntensions involving Iran. Prices saw a boost when the U.S. blamed Iran last week\nfor the attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman, as any type of military\nconfrontation could have significant consequences for oil supply moving through\nthe Persian Gulf. 3<\/sup> <\/p>\n\n\n\n But the market appears more concerned with excess supply and\ninventory of crude oil, as global demand levels off and as the probability of\nrecession rises. On the supply side, the market is contending with a spike in\nU.S. stockpiles which recently hit multiyear highs. The ongoing shale\nproduction boom in the U.S. continues to keep inventories near record highs, even\nas the summer season takes hold (which usually leads to higher demand and\nfalling inventories). This is arguably why the market has appeared to shrug off\nany threat of a supply disruption in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the demand side, investors are increasingly worried of a\nglobal slowdown tied to the late cycle headwinds and the ongoing trade dispute\nbetween the United States and China. The Energy Information Administration and\nthe International Energy Agency both lowered their forecasts for 2019 global\noil demand growth, as GDP growth forecasts soften across the developed world\nand as trade forecasts move lower in lockstep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n China in particular has downgraded growth forecasts as\nmanufacturing and industrial production numbers show early signs of weakness. For the month of May,\nindustrial production growth in China was the slowest it\u2019s been in years, with\nfixed asset investment also slowing. Manufacturing PMIs around the developed\nworld are also flashing yellow, with confirmed contractions <\/em>(readings under 50.0) in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan,\nMalaysia, Russia, Poland, Turkey, Italy, Germany, and the U.K. China and Spain\nare stagnating but seem to be on the verge of contracting.3 <\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ncapital markets (with the exception of the stock market which appears to be\npricing a rate cut) have shown signs of concern over slowing growth, with\nassets pouring into safe havens like U.S. Treasuries, German Bunds, and\nJapanese Bonds \u2013 driving yields to historic lows. Other commodities besides\noil, like nickel and cotton, have been under pressure as well as the trade\ntalks between the U.S. and China collapsed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom Line for\nInvestors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Oil and commodities prices are inherently volatile \u2013 remember,\nwe saw a 50% price drop in crude oil prices midway through the current economic\nexpansion and bull market,4<\/sup> and the expansion was not thrown off\ncourse. What we see today, however, is an interesting set of circumstances\nwhere global inventories are near record levels and global demand is slowly\nstarting to turn over. Absent a re-acceleration of global growth expectations \u2013\nwhich I do not foresee anytime soon \u2013 the major event to watch is whether the\nsituation escalates with Iran, which could significantly impact supply\nexpectations and could send prices higher. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In times like this, I recommend staying focused on hard data and key economic indicators. To help you do this, I invite you to download our Just-Released Stock Market Outlook Report.<\/a><\/strong> If you have $500,000 or more to invest, learn how you may be able to prepare your portfolio for changes in the economy by reading this new report today. Inventories are high, demand is slowing \u2026 but Iran tensions could send prices back up <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mitch-on-the-markets","category-private-client-group"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8081"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10745,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8081\/revisions\/10745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/fredgraph_11-1024x412.png\")
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This 40-page report is packed with our newly revised predictions for 2019. For example, you’ll discover Zacks\u2019 view on: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/em>FREE Download \u2013 Zacks’ Stock Market Outlook<\/a>5<\/a><\/sup> <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"