Michael Giberson I found this discussion of spot oil prices, futures prices, and commodity storage to be insightful: [R]ecent evidence suggests that the combination of derivative prices and storage stabilized rather than destabilized the oil markets. Indeed, during the run up in oil prices at the beginning of 2008 the spot price for oil was …
Derivatives Markets, Storage and Price Volatility Read More »
Michael Giberson News and commentary on Thursday’s stock market moves. First, Newsweek, “The Computer Glitch Felt Round the World.” Now, Scott Patterson, WSJ, reports “Did Shutdowns Make the Plunge Worse?” (Business Insider comments, “Everyone is rushing to blame [High Frequency Trading (HFT)] and other non-human problems for the crash… when, at least in part, it may have …
Michael Giberson Fall 2008 was a time of rapidly falling wholesale and retail gasoline prices throughout the United States, interrupted briefly due to the market disruptions of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in early September. In Tennessee, retail price increases surrounding Hurricane Ike resulted in more the 4,000 complaints to the state government. Resulting investigations by …
Tennessee Ag Settles Price Gouging Claim Against Knoxville Gasoline Retailer Read More »
Michael Giberson From Regulation 2.0: Frustrated by a federal appeals court ruling that the FCC had no authority to second-guess Comcast’s treatment of customers and under pressure from the Obama Administration to impose a net neutrality regime (whatever that truly means) on the broadband industry, FCC Chair Julius Genachowski is now asserting the commission’s right …
Michael Giberson A significant water main break affecting over 2 million people in the suburban Boston area has lead the Massachusetts Governor Patrick Duval to declare a state of emergency. A boil water order is also in effect. Subsequently, the Governor directed the state’s Division of Standards “to closely monitor bottled water prices in areas affected …
Is Price Gouging on Bottled Water Against the Law in Massachusetts? Read More »
Michael Giberson According to Accenture, 46 percent of consumers surveyed said they didn’t want smart grid-based energy management systems if it leads to higher electricity bills. My guess is that the other 54 percent of consumers didn’t understand the question. The summary distributed by Accenture contains several other bits of should-be-obvious information – consumers are …
Michael Giberson Obviously the electric utility industry is very much in the experiment and learning phase (also known as “trial and error”) of the smart grid. Two examples are provided by PG&E in California and Xcel in Colorado. It is tempting to rush to judgment on the impossibility of an efficient, well-run, customer-centric smart grid …
Two Stories About Integrated Utility Smart Grid Programs Read More »
Michael Giberson Bloomberg reports on fraud via Spain’s subsidized feed in tariff rate for solar power: Preliminary evidence shows some solar stations may have run diesel-burning generators and sold the output as solar power, which earns several times more than electricity from fossil fuels, El Mundo said, citing unidentified people from the energy industry. The …
Making the Most of Spain’s Feed-in Tariff for Solar Power Read More »
Michael Giberson As just noted, the CFTC has approved Media Derivatives request to establish Trend Exchange, a box office futures exchange. At Midas Oracle, Chris Masse reacts to the news by drawing attention to remarks by CFTC commissioners suggesting that it may be difficult for Trend Exchange to gain the subsequent CFTC approvals needed for …
Michael Giberson Today the CFTC approved Media Derivatives Inc.’s request to create a futures exchange based on box office receipts. The exchange “is primarily focused on the development of a variety of products to benefit the entertainment industry with one if its initially proposed products being designed to help mitigate risk and enhance the successful …
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