Can The G8 Stop Oil Before Prices Hit $200?
Subprime crisis? Credit crunch? These issues have fallen by the wayside as the focus of investors, politicians and central bankers alike has shifted to the break-neck rise in oil prices. Concerns abound that the current rally will mirror the catastrophic economic fallout of the 1970s oil shocks. The parallels appear well-warranted: last week saw crude reach yet another record, trading at $139.12 dollars/barrel and surpassing the 1979 high of $136.28 (in today’s dollars). This weekend’s G8 Summit in Japan is set to focus on the matter as energy costs have crimped consumption, distorted trade figures, and fed global inflation. The markets will wait breathlessly to see if the final communiqué will include an unambiguous call on oil producing countries to boost production. With oil prices increasingly determined by the fate of the US dollar, forex traders will look to USDCAD to capture the volatility surrounding the meeting’s outcome.