As economy 'recovers', oil jumps above $79

SHOOT: I don't believe there is a popular consensus that it was energy prices that causes the crash and recession. The average person will say it was the subprime crisis, or that it was derivative trading and speculation that drove energy prices up. There's some merit in these arguments, but I suspect not much. What we're seeing is fairly high energy prices [$70] during very weak economic activity. $70 is high. Airlines are generally considered to not be viable above $80. So you see marginal improvements in the economy, and the energy prices immediately react. What does that tell you? Inflation is a certainty going forward. And if we want to grow, and be profitably, we'll cut the only other thing left to cut - which is staffing. What do you get then? Stagflation.

clipped from finance.yahoo.com SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices jumped above $79 a barrel to a 2009 high Monday in Asia as investors looked to the corporate earnings of big U.S. retailers this week for signs consumers may be regaining confidence. Benchmark crude for November delivery rose as much as 52 cents to $79.05 a barrel but later fell back and was up 32 cents at $78.85 by late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 95 cents to settle at $78.53 on Friday. Last week, crude broke out of a five-month trading range between $65 and $75 a barrel on a weakening U.S. dollar and expectations that oil demand will eventually recover as the global economy grows next year. Investors will be eyeing third quarter results from retailers this week for clues about the strength of the U.S. consumer. Apple Inc., McDonald's Corp., appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. and toy maker Hasbro Inc. are among those reporting this week.