SHOOT: It's hard to believe oil prices were half the current number a few months ago, and no one expected them to go upward any time soon. Now they're talking about $80. I've suggested, while oil was still low, that $100 is very much in the ballpark, and $150 possible. The market and economists have consistently been wrong in their predictions on oil, on the downside. And the market is now far more volatile and unpredictable than it ever was. More news - US unemployment is now at 9.4%. 10% is a Depression-era level. I guess only once we reach that will economists concede that 'we're in a technical Depression'. I've been saying we are heading in that direction ever since credit got wiped out and Oil Peaked. Get with the program.
VIENNA (AP) -- Oil prices are spiking above $70 per barrel for the first time since October.
Prices jumped after a U.S. Labor Department report Friday that showed the pace of layoffs eased in May. The unemployment rate, at 9.4 percent, is still the highest in over 25 years.
Benchmark crude for July delivery hit $70.32 per barrel, the highest since October.
Crude's stellar rise -- it now fetches roughly twice what it did only four months ago -- is leading analysts to revise forecasts upward, with many now saying they expect a barrel to cost $80 or more by year's end.
Crude prices have been boosted by expectations that the U.S. economy could be stabilizing and as some investors scoop up oil and other commodities as a hedge against a weak dollar.
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