OPEC: There is enough oil, just look for more! by Zivka Deleva

Oil prices rose again. Above $82 a barrel in Asia! It happened after U.S Federal Reserve announced that it plans to keep interest rated at record lows. Last week U.S crude inventories grew less than expected. According to the American Petroleum Institute, crude inventories have risen 400.000 barrels last week. The 12 country members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) today met in Vienna and decided that they are not going to allow change of the production quotas. OPEC expects good demand this year because the crude prices are steady. There is no chance that an oil shortfall can happen to the world, because there is enough capacity for any potential! rise in world demand. OPEC has more than 6.6 million barrels per day of spare capacity. OPEC countries are provoked by the growing consumption in Asia. That makes prices higher. "Asia is where all the demand is coming from. The outlook for commodities like oil just has to be moving up" - said David Carbon, head of economic research at DBS bank in Singapore. The price of natural gas rose as well. According to the Fed, the inflation should stay at low level and the job market is recovering very slowly. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi said that the cartel had reached agreement on leaving production at current levels. "There is no question: there is agreement, yes," – said al-Nuaimi, whose country is the world's second biggest crude oil producer behind Russia. The cartel's official oil production quota is 24.84 million barrels per day. The Federal Reserve is hoping to stimulate fragile US economy, where unemployment and tight credits are still the worst problems
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by Zivka Deleva for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

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Fed to raise interest rates by Zuzana Zelenakova

As the financial system is getting better the Federal Reserve is making plans to raise interest rates. It has raised the discount rate recently, which is an interest rate the central bank charges other banks for borrowing reserves. Although it has come earlier than many expected, it is a good sign signaling the advancing recovery. The Fed has held interest rates at record low levels since December 2008, but now the Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues have to figure out the best way as to how and when send the signal so that borrowers and investors won´t be confused or agitated. The Fed has promised to keep interest rates untouched for an “extended perio! d”, and now they have to weigh whether to change the pledge or stick with it. "During the Depression, the Fed tightened policy too soon and cut off the recovery before it was self-sufficient," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. "The Fed doesn't want to make that mistake again. I think that they are willing to stay with very easy money longer than they might normally because of all the damage that has been done to the economy." Most probably, the change until the next Fed´s meeting scheduled for April 27-28. Although the recovery is in progress it is a slow process we are talking about. Unemployment rate, which is currently at 9.7 percent, is likely to stay that way and the companies are still not hiring very eagerly. "Cautiously optimistic is where the Fed is right now," said William Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock. "But it is heavy on the caution and light on the optimism." According to the experts, interest rates are most likely t! o jump this fall. Economists and investors are wondering if th! e Fed mo difies also the program that has lowered mortgage rates and boosted the housing market.

related story (sgx16763): http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100316/ap_on_bi_ge/us_fed_inter...

by Zuzana Zelenakova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

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Awaited banking bill by Barbora Misakova

When the world fell into economy crisis and consequent poverty, there were many culprits and there are still some new ones appearing from one day to another. Greece’s Prime Minister George A. Papandreou sees traders and speculators as those who are responsible for today’s situation of his country and the rest of the world as well. As he said: “An elected government, making huge changes with the consent of its people, is being undermined by concentrated powers in unregulated markets, powers which go beyond those of any individual government.” And the appeal for cracking them down went from Greece right to the USA. While investors are awaiting confirma! tion of a rescue package for Greece and are fretting about the status of banking reform in the U. S., world stock markets are falling. The Dow is down 30 points, Standard & Poor’s 500 futures fell 4.4 points at 1,142.20. European indexes are not better off. FTSE 100 index of leading British shares decreased 11.19 points at 5,614.46, Germany’s DAX fell 9.01 points and France’s CAC-40 was 0.3 percent lower, what represents 13.02 points. But investors are focusing on something else – banking bill scheduled for Tuesday. While it was expected that bill would fail to get the necessary support from the Senate, now it looks that many Republicans may back some sort of bill, including giving the U. S. Federal Reserve more regulatory powers. As expressed James Hughes, market analyst at CMC Markets: “It seems it has been a long time in coming and many are skeptical whether giving more power to the Fed would make any difference.”

related story ! (sgx16758): http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100315/ap_on_bi_ge/world_market...

by Barbora Misakova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

Cantell TV is the fastest growing provider of digital broadcasting coupled with telecommunications, allowing people to easily control, view, upload and share digital content through proprietary interface coupled with free phone calls. Cantell TV is committed to delivering infinite choices to your world of entertainment at the tip of your fingers.