North America

The American Quran is a new English translation of the Muslim holy book, that believers believe was dictated by god to his prophet Muhammad in a serious of visions. The book aims to explain Islam to the world in a way that is not confined to the rigid Wahhabi interpretation of a typical Saudi version. The Daily Beast reports: A new translation of the Quran, with commentary, is causing a stir—and maybe something of a revolution—in the world of English-speaking Muslims. Why’s that?

It had been a volatile day for nat gas traders.

As we reported this morning citing Bloomberg, "it’s almost time to put that snow shovel away and get out the gardening tools", because as the following weather forecast shows, March temperatures are expected to be considerably higher than expected across the entire US.

This led to some abnormal moves in natgas this morning:

The moves even prompted rumors that another commodity hedge fund had blown up:

Submitted by James Stafford via OilPrice.com,

With lithium prices skyrocketing beyond wildest expectations, talk heating up about acquisitions and mergers in this space and a fast-brewing war among electric car rivals, it’s no wonder everyone’s bullish on this golden commodity that promises to become the ‘’new gasoline”.

Moreover, land grabs, rising price predictions, and expectations of a major demand spike are leaping out of the shadows of a pending energy revolution and a new technology-driven resource era.

One week ago, we reported that even as traders were focusing on the daily headline barrage out of OPEC members discussing whether or not they would cut production (they won't) or merely freeze it (at fresh record levels as Russia reported earlier today) a bigger threat in the near-term will be whether the relentless supply of excess oil will force Cushing, and PADD 2 in general, inventory to reach operational capacity.

Submitted by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

Barack Obama recently stated that anyone that is claiming that America’s economy is in decline is “peddling fiction“.  Well, if the economy is in such great shape, why are major retailers shutting down hundreds of stores all over the country?