David R. Kotok, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Cumberland Advisors Inc. shared some market commentary over the weekend in light of what is potentially happening in Libya. There is conjecture that a regime change will lead to an increase in oil production and futures traders taking the price of oil down in the near future due to increased supply.
What does this have to do with the price of tea in China? A better question to ask is what does this have to do with the price of gas in the US. Kotok estimates that one penny per gallon of gasoline is roughly equal to $1.4 billion based on current consumption rates in the US. A $1 drop in the price of a gallon of gas would therefore equal roughly $140 billion in money freed up to spend elsewhere. Of course if gas dropped that much, people who were cutting back on buying fuel would perhaps drive a bit more, but nonetheless we’d still be looking at a significant stimulus to the US economy.
So who’s gonna short oil on Monday now? lol