1) America now has such a surplus of natural gas, that it’s being burned off instead of sold and used. The problem isn’t a lack of a market to sell to, rather it is insufficient distribution infrastructure. There isn’t enough pipeline capacity to get the gas from the oil fields to customers. In West Texas, enough gas is burned off each day to fuel every house in Texas. Natural gas prices are negative in some areas as producers pay people to take the gas off their hands.
2) The international banking giant Deutsche Bank is getting out of the investment banking by closing its equities business. This restructuring will result in posting a $3.1 billion dollar loss for the second quarter and an overall loss of $8.3 billion dollar into 2022. Additionally, there will be a loss of 18,000 jobs or one fifth of their labor force.
3) The summer labor force of teenagers is shrinking as American youth opt for summer school and extracurricular activities. Only about 40% of highschool age kids are working during their summer vacations, compared to more than 60% in the twentieth century. This leaves businesses with a dilemma of find enough workers, especially those business which are more active in the summer months and need that extra short term labor boost. Much of this shift is because of increased emphasis on education for the young, who opt for summer school and summer college prep programs instead of earning some pocket money.
4) Stock market closings for- 8 JUL 19:
Dow 26,806.14 down 115.98
Nasdaq 8,098.38 down 63.41
S&P 500 2,975.95 down 14.46
10 Year Yield: down at 2.03%
Oil: down at $57.54