Fuel prices spike amid Ukraine crisis, with some markets hovering near $5 a gallon

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Americans are paying nearly a dollar more for a gallon of gas — to roughly $5 in some markets — than they did last year as the growing threat of war in Ukraine moved oil prices higher.

The U.S. average for regular unleaded gasoline hit $3.53 a gallon on Wednesday, according to AAA. That’s 21 cents higher than last month and a hefty jump from the $2.65 recorded a year ago.

Oil prices climbed as the Russia-Ukraine crisis played out, pushing them within striking distance of $100 a barrel. They’ve eased slightly, with Brent crude, the international benchmark, trading Wednesday at roughly $97 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, hovering above $92. But both are up about 40 percent from their early December low points.

Analysts say any further aggression on the part of Russia could attract more sanctions from the United States and Europe, something that could disrupt Europe’s energy supply and send price shocks across the globe. In an address Tuesday, President Biden warned that sanctions would probably affect U.S. consumers.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/fuel-prices-spike-amid-ukraine-crisis-with-some-markets-hovering-near-dollar5-a-gallon/ar-AAUe2h0

White House preps public for sanctions sticker shock

The White House is prepping Americans for the likelihood that sanctions on Russia will have a ripple effect that hits their pocketbooks.

President Biden and other administration officials acknowledge the steps the U.S. and European nations are taking to deter Moscow from further aggression against Ukraine are likely to spur higher gas prices. But they argue defending an ally and trying to stop a war in Europe is a worthy cause.

"As I said last week, defending freedom will have costs for us as well and here at home," Biden said in a speech on Tuesday. "We need to be honest about that. But as we do this, I'm going to take robust action to make sure the pain of our sanctions is targeted at the Russian economy, not ours."

Asked later Tuesday if officials are specifically referring to the likelihood Americans will see higher gasoline prices, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, "Yeah, energy prices. Exactly."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/white-house-preps-public-for-sanctions-sticker-shock/ar-AAUdRnv

[msongs]

1. corporate war profiteering already nt

[Raine]

2. Exactly. nt

[WarGamer]

3. From a financial perspective it's the "Perfect Storm"

First one must understand... the economy was due for a recession around 2015-2016ish, we had a tiny one (2 straight quarters with nearly 0 GDP) in 2016 that was glossed over mostly because of the Election.

Then the pandemic happened and money was PUMPED into the markets. Trillions. The market soared to ridiculous overvalued highs. Everyone with a 401k and/or a stock portfolio was rich (er)

Then the Real Estate market went nuts and 600k houses became 1M houses.

Then the side effects started... $12 Big Mac Meals and $50 delivery from Dominos.

So to combat historically bad inflation the Fed literally sprays cold water on the markets... to cool off the economy by cutting off QE and raising rates.

You CAN NOT have both high wages, high investment returns and low consumer prices at the same time.

And then... after the market has lost 10-15% of it's value since Thanksgiving we have the Ukraine crisis and it's dropping like a rock again. Oil headed to 100+

And in the future people are going to look at their mortgage statement and wonder why their $1M house is worth 650k again. Then people start dropping keys off at banks again.

It's going to be a rough '22... hold on.