Finimize - 🇺🇸 Is America’s oil ban a bluff?

Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for March 8th in 3:03 minutes.

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Today's big stories

The oil price soared again after the US said it's considering banning all Russian oil imports
Our analyst has looked into whether bitcoin or gold is the better investment for this moment – Read Now
Uber upped its profit outlook for this quarter

Cold Shoulder

What’s Going On Here?

The price of oil hit a 14-year high on Monday, after the US threatened to cut all ties with the world’s third-biggest oil producer.

What Does This Mean?

The oil price already hit an eight-year high last week, when global refineries and banks refused to buy the slippery elixir from a warmonger like Russia. And the supply squeeze now looks set to get worse: the West is ramping up sanctions in a bid to put more pressure on Russia’s flailing economy and bring the conflict to an end. The US government, for one, said this weekend that it’s thinking about outright banning Russian oil imports. And since that would leave an even smaller supply of oil up for grabs, its announcement drove up the price of Brent crude – a key international oil benchmark – to an eye-watering $139 a barrel on Monday.

Why Should I Care?

The bigger picture: Here comes stagflation.
The International Monetary Fund warned over the weekend that the effects of the war – including higher food and energy prices – could cripple the global economy going forward. It’s not the only one: JPMorgan’s economists just cut their outlook for global economic growth this year by 1% (tweet this), while some analysts have expressed concern that America’s ban might tip us into “stagflation” – the dreaded mixture of slowing growth and rising inflation.

Zooming out: China’s nothing if not contrarian.
China has mostly kept out of the fray so far, and the West’s sanctions aren’t exactly a pressing concern: Russian and Ukrainian trade and investment only make up a small proportion of its economy. That might be why the country is still confident it can grow its economy by 5.5% this year. As for how, economists reckon it’ll invest heavily in its infrastructure, as well as cut interest rates to encourage borrowing and spending – even as other major economies raise theirs.

You might also like: Will higher-for-longer energy prices bleed us all dry?

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Analyst Take

Which Is The Better Investment Right Now, Bitcoin Or Gold?

By Jonathan Hobbs, Analyst

What’s Going On Here?

There’s a lot to be said for owning bitcoin and gold right now.

With inflation on the rise and geopolitical tensions at boiling point, they’re two assets that could keep your portfolio steady when the world is anything but.

But as for which one is a better bet right now, that depends on a few factors – not least their effectiveness as a store of wealth and their scarcity.

Technical analysis of the pair might offer a few clues too: gold has a solid base of support right now, while bitcoin looks like it’s setting itself up for a rally.

So that’s today’s Insight: which of these assets is the better investment right now.

Read or listen to the Insight here

“Amazon will fail”

That’s not us talking, that’s Jeff Bezos.

Yup, Bezos himself said: “I predict one day, Amazon will fail”.

But Bezos will do just fine: after all, he’s already pouring cash into a fast-growing emerging technology that he thinks will “improve every business”.

He’s not alone: that tech – which Warren Buffett calls “enormously disruptive” – has already attracted some of the world’s most successful investors.

Find out what tech they’re chasing, and why.

Find Out More