US Oil Premiums Hit Record High As World Scrambles For Crude By Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com The premiums for U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude have soared in the spot market to a record high of between $30 and $40 per barrel above key regional benchmarks as Asia and Europe scramble for supply amid the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz. WTI Midland is being offered for July delivery in ...
US Oil Premiums Hit Record High As World Scrambles For Crude By Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com The premiums for U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude have soared in the spot market to a record high of between $30 and $40 per barrel above key regional benchmarks as Asia and Europe scramble for supply amid the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz. WTI Midland is being offered for July delivery in north Asia at premiums of between $30 and $40 per barrel, depending on the benchmark against which they are marked, trading sources told Reuters on Monday. "Asian refiners, shut out of Middle Eastern supply, are bidding aggressively for every available Atlantic Basin barrel," said Paola Rodriguez-Masiu, chief oil analyst at Rystad Energy, in a note dated April 3. With most of the Middle Eastern supply still trapped at Hormuz and all Gulf producers slashing upstream production in response to the closed Strait, competition for barrels from other producers has become fierce and has pushed premiums higher and higher. WTI Midland is offered to North Asia at a premium of $34 per barrel over the Dubai benchmark, a trader told Reuters. Another trade source said there are also offers of WTI Midland priced $30 per barrel above Dated Brent. There have been offers at nearly $40 a barrel above ICE Brent for August delivery, additional sources told Reuters. The offers for spot WTI Midland have jumped in recent days from around $20 per barrel premium for cargoes sold at the end of March. U.S. crude has become prized oil supply in the absence of free flows from the Middle East. As a result, the price of the WTI Crude futures benchmark soared past Brent Crude futures at the end of last week. WTI Crude rarely trades at a premium to Brent. Brent crude reflects seaborne crude and typically leads during global supply shocks, while WTI crude is usually discounted. As Julianne Geiger noted , part of the move is technical : WTI’s front-month contract reflects May delivery, while Brent has already...
Singapore cabinet ministers K. Shanmugam and Tan See Leng hauled financial news outlet Bloomberg and one of its reporters to court on Tuesday for defamation over an article that mentioned their personal property transactions. According to statements of claim filed in the High Court, Coordinating Minister for National Security Shanmugam and Manpower Minister Tan said parts of the article, titled “S...
Singapore cabinet ministers K. Shanmugam and Tan See Leng hauled financial news outlet Bloomberg and one of its reporters to court on Tuesday for defamation over an article that mentioned their personal property transactions. According to statements of claim filed in the High Court, Coordinating Minister for National Security Shanmugam and Manpower Minister Tan said parts of the article, titled “Singapore mansion deals are increasingly shrouded in secrecy”, were false, baseless and calculated to...
koto_feja/E+ via Getty Images Shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics ( IOVA ) have lost nearly two-thirds of their value since Amtagvi was approved in February 2024. On the other hand, shares were up by as much as 80% YTD mid-March due to increasing enthusiasm for Amtagvi's commercial prospects in melanoma along with accelerating clinical momentum plus improving margins (transitioning from science proj...
koto_feja/E+ via Getty Images Shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics ( IOVA ) have lost nearly two-thirds of their value since Amtagvi was approved in February 2024. On the other hand, shares were up by as much as 80% YTD mid-March due to increasing enthusiasm for Amtagvi's commercial prospects in melanoma along with accelerating clinical momentum plus improving margins (transitioning from science project to viable business). Current pullback puts YTD gain at +20% and is likely due in part to aspiring competitor Replimune ( REPL ), with the April 10th PDUFA date coming up for RP1 in melanoma (combined with Bristol's PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab). While it's possible IOVA could experience a gap down if RP1 gets approved, I think bears and skeptics are missing the forest for the trees as the overall story continues to get better . Chart Finviz Figure 1: IOVA daily chart (Source: Finviz ) In the chart above, we can see shares were rangebound for much of the past year (stuck at around $2.50). In late February, they jumped on the Q4 update and ran to $5.50 before experiencing a gap down followed by a slow decline to $3.30. My suggestion for readers who like this name is to accumulate weakness in the near term with an eye toward sales growth and pipeline progress during the 2026 to 2028 time period. Select Recent Developments Real-world results for Amtagvi were shared in an oral presentation at ASTCT and CIBMTR annual meetings. Physician-assessed ORR was 44% with a 73% disease control rate in 41 patients. Of note, responses were higher when patients had two or fewer prior lines of therapy (52% ORR). Both of these figures are significantly better than the 31% ORR reported from the pivotal trial and could boost uptake in less heavily pretreated melanoma patients as physician enthusiasm rises. corporate slides Figure 2: 5-year data from pivotal melanoma data showcases impressive durability that competitors will have to match (Source: corporate slides ) In the Q4 rep...
A research team at a Chinese university has developed a new way to make high-end infrared chips that could slash their cost dramatically and improve the performance of smartphone cameras and self-driving cars. The key breakthrough was finding a way to make the chips using conventional manufacturing techniques, rather than the exotic, costly materials that were relied on before. Mass production is ...
A research team at a Chinese university has developed a new way to make high-end infrared chips that could slash their cost dramatically and improve the performance of smartphone cameras and self-driving cars. The key breakthrough was finding a way to make the chips using conventional manufacturing techniques, rather than the exotic, costly materials that were relied on before. Mass production is set to begin by the end of the year, according to a press release from Xidian University. The chips...
On a Saturday night in Austin, standing inside a defunct power plant, Elon Musk delivered a message that cut straight to the heart of the AI chip shortage: His companies cannot get the chips they need, so they are going to build their own. Musk shared on March 21 that Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI are ...
On a Saturday night in Austin, standing inside a defunct power plant, Elon Musk delivered a message that cut straight to the heart of the AI chip shortage: His companies cannot get the chips they need, so they are going to build their own. Musk shared on March 21 that Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI are ...
JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Shares of Wabtec ( WAB ) have been trading strong, currently changing hands at just over $250 per share, within imminent reach of all-time highs. Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies benefits from continued organic growth, solid M&A efforts, and a strong order intake, firing on all cylinders here. On top of strong current operating momentum, which has bee...
JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Shares of Wabtec ( WAB ) have been trading strong, currently changing hands at just over $250 per share, within imminent reach of all-time highs. Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies benefits from continued organic growth, solid M&A efforts, and a strong order intake, firing on all cylinders here. On top of strong current operating momentum, which has been going on for a couple of years, further growth is seen in sales and margins in the coming years. This provides a solid roadmap for the company to execute upon and even enjoy the ride. However, with shares trading near the all-time highs, for good reasons, quite some good news has been priced in here, with shares trading around 25 times forward earnings. This makes me appreciative of the performance of the business, yet I am hard-pressed to see appeal here, although I am seriously considering serious setbacks here. My regard for Wabtec has only been increasing. After I was constructive on the shares in the fall at levels just below the $200 mark, shares have risen by a quarter ever since, killing the immediate appeal. Other, higher conviction ideas, including recent M&A efforts, can be found at Value In Corporate Events . A Good News Show In February, Wabtec announced the closure of the $960 million acquisition of Dellner-Couplers, a Swedish-based firm whose acquisition was announced early last year. Other good news was reported on the order front. In February, the company reported a $670 million deal with CSX ( CSX ) to upgrade a fleet of 100 new Evolution Series locomotives and 50 modernized locomotives. That news came days after the company signed a $1.2 billion deal with Union Pacific ( UNP ) to modernize its AC4400 locomotives. In fact, a third order was reported this quarter, with Wabtec announcing a smaller $386 million deal with the New York MTA back in January. Combined, these orders total $2.2 billion—that's a substantial number, almost equivalent to a quarter's ...