Energy crises and central bank moves to crush inflation present powerful headwinds across markets, underscored by copper’s collapse Friday below $8,000 a ton. Next week’s minutes of the last Federal Reserve meeting should give more detail on the bank’s thinking. There’s also the United Nations’ annual report on food security, which comes ahead of an important month for the war-torn wheat market.
Putin’s Latest Gambit
Just as Europe’s fears over Russian gas supplies reach fever pitch, the man in the Kremlin unleashed another energy surprise. Putin delivered a bombshell for foreign investors in Sakhalin-2, including Shell as well as Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui & Co. Rights to the project will be vested in a new Russian company, with zero compensation for those who opt-out.
What exactly this means isn’t yet clear. But the move threatens to complicate Shell’s efforts to sell its 27.5% stake and casts…
