Jason Schenker Energy Quotations

With the year-on-year deficit in gasoline and with economic growth it is hard to be bearish about energy in the short or medium term. The manufacturing and retail numbers, the regional and national numbers, wherever you look they are positive. The same goes for overseas.

We're seeing range trading in all of the energy contracts. The big question is whether this is the bottom or if we will go lower. In the short-term the inventory numbers and the weather will determine what we do.

Near-term energy price spikes, ubiquitous gasoline lines and fear of shortages have exposed the soft underbelly of the U.S. energy complex,

OPEC is likely to be a critical event next week. A cut in production, however, seems quite unlikely despite slower fourth-quarter U.S. GDP growth out today and a well-supplied market. The specter of oil supply disruption haunts energy markets.

There have been attempts this year to solve the bottleneck in the refinery part of the energy equation. That is still not resolved.

Energy shares took a hit today as crude prices eased. The drag in energy shares, combined with end-of-year low volume, is bringing volatility to the stock markets.

The stock market is reacting to the strong earnings reports we've seen earlier today. But sooner or later, companies may have to start passing through the increase in energy costs or be hurt by it.

Oil prices fell through the first half of last month, but commodity prices are still somewhat elevated and we're likely to see energy bounce back in the March report.

Despite high energy prices, consumer spending will hold up relatively well. Consumer behavior is not changing a lot.

After the PPI bounced last week due to higher energy costs, there is a big risk of the CPI following suit next week. There is significant upside risk there.

Geopolitical power is moving from energy consuming countries to the producers. We may see more of these supply shocks in the years ahead.

If energy price increases do not prove to be a transitory blip, inflationary fears are likely to increase and Fed hikes are likely to continue,

I don't think the energy prices that have only gone up since this report are some transitory aberration,