What efects will Hurricane IKE have on the PM market?

laxmaster92

My newspaper said that gas prices are likely to rise 50 cents a gallon because of IKE hitting oil refineries in Texas. Will rising gas prices make PM's drop or rise?

Manorcourtman

I believe it will have little to do with PM's. Downward pressure continues to push metals south for the next few months maybe longer, much longer.

roadrunner

If we were into rising strength of the metals then rising gas prices would push metals up. But the shorts still have the momentum in gold at the moment. No better than a stalemate right now. The funny thing is the banks made tons on the commodities take down. And they will make a ton on the eventual push back up as longs.

roadrunner

jmski52

Ike will shut down production and distribution of crude and petroleum products for a short time. This might cause spot shortages and some price increases, but at this time it looks like the impact will be manageable.

The longer term effect of the hurricane damage along the Gulf will be a further loss of economic momentum in the economy. One more straw on the camel's back, and the camel is already staggering. Ike is worth a couple of economic stimulus checks or the equivalent. Not good for the economy.

If there weren't already serious problems, a bounceback would be fairly routine. As things stand, the downturn will last a bit longer and the temptation will be great to create more stimulus while holding rates low.

A hit that we really didn't need right now.