Mid-Week Review – February 9, 2022

Fauci says ‘full-blown’ COVID-19 pandemic is almost over in US

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser for President Biden, said in an interview published Tuesday that the U.S. is almost past the “full-blown” pandemic phase of the coronavirus and said he hopes that all virus-related restrictions could wind down in a few months. Fauci discussed his idea of the virus’s trajectory with the Financial Times. He told the paper that the government response to the disease will eventually be handled on a local level and not federal.

Oil prices: ‘It’s going to be very easy’ to get to $100/barrel, analyst says

Energy and oil prices have been on fire over the last six months — and expect them to go higher, says one analyst. “For multiple reasons, there’s still room to go higher in the coming weeks,” Troy Vincent, DTN ​​senior market analyst, told Yahoo Finance Live. Some strategists have been forecasting $100 barrel for oil. “I wouldn’t say it’s inevitable, but it’s going be very easy to get there,” said Vincent.

What the Ukraine Crisis Means for Oil Prices

A Russian invasion of Ukraine could materially disrupt the global oil supply in several ways, but none are likely, in our view. Nevertheless, with the global oil supply/demand balance already tight, the added geopolitical risk has been a factor in the recent uptick in crude prices (along with Kazakhstan fuel protests, Libyan supply outages, and the limited impact of the omicron variant on demand).

‘Pain at the pump’: Your medium-sized car costs you $12 more per tank of gas than a year ago

Gas prices are continuing to surge up with no signs of slowing down, according to the American Automobile Association. The national average for gas is $3.46 per gallon as of Tuesday, slightly up from yesterday’s average of $3.44 and nearly a dollar more than last year’s average of $2.47. That means the average person is spending about $12 more to fill up a tank of gas in a medium-sized car.