War: Ukraine-Russia   Wars Can Be Lost Off the Battlefield, as Ukraine’s Zelensky found out in his meeting with Trump at the end of February where he found out that Trump does not care for insistent demands without the carrots of appreciation and compensation.  Whether from being tone-deaf or following…

During the month of February, Energy (+4.04%) and Interest Rates (+2.39%) were the top performers. The bottom performers were Crypto (-24.78%) and Softs (-7.12%). The bullish performance in Energy (+4.04%) was led by Natural Gas (+25.95%).  With global political tensions high, the S&P 500 (-2.67%) receded to two-month lows. The…

Commodities: Global   OPEC Oil Output Fell Slightly to an average of under 27 million barrels per day (mbpd) as a fire in a prominent Iraqi field that halted production there was partially offset by increases in Kuwait and Venezuela.  The US imported the least oil from Saudi Arabia since…

War: Ukraine-Russia    Ukraine’s Eastern Territory Still Being Nibbled Away but per UK Defense Intelligence, January 2025 was the second-worst month for the Russians in terms of personnel losses (48,000 killed and wounded), almost matching the record figures for December 2024 (49,000 killed and wounded) and handily exceeding November was…