Yesterday we looked at how past hurricanes have affected the gas/oil spread (also called the crack spread), and while Isaac isn’t quite on the level of his predecessors Gustav and Katrina, this storm is still on track to sweep over a huge swath of US oil production and refining facilities. And that’s not to mention the human toll that a hurricane like this can bring, or the general economic impact of shutting down the Gulf (and repairing the damage once the storm has passed). Maybe that’s why no managed futures managers we know of run their business out of New Orleans…
In light of all that, we decided to post a few essential links for keeping tabs on market-moving tropical weather:
- The best site for all things hurricane: Dr. Jeff Masters’ WunderBlog. He’ll even have some posts on there about droughts, frost, etc.
- Of course, for the latest meteorological update, the National Weather Service National Hurricane Center has you covered.
- For the oil/gas side of the hurricane story, Reuters Hurricane Tracker lets you track the storm, and includes the option to display Gulf oil rigs and refineries.
- For up-to-the minute satellite images and image loops, the NOAA has you covered with their Western Atlantic Imagery page.
- And of course, for sheer “wow” factor, you can’t beat NASA’s satellite pictures of the storm.
- They should have hurricane futures, you say? The CME does, it’s just that nobody trades them.
Here’s hoping the storm doesn’t cause major damage and that the region can bounce back quickly. Until then, for all our readers in the path of the storm: stay safe!