In oil, like life, the secret to happiness is to lower your expectations. That isn’t just a piece of homespun, nihilist wisdom. It’s what’s happening beneath the surface of the oil market. Hedging is how exploration and production companies manage their market risk. Locking in a price for future output — by, for example, selling oil futures — provides ...

  Something strange is happening in China’s steel market. Hot-rolled coil, a type of spooled sheet metal used to make everything from automobiles to trains and toasters, now costs less than the rebar used in reinforced concrete. That’s a rare event, and it’s still rarer for the divergence to be this wide. Flat products like hot-rolled coil are generally more ...

  What did Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer achieve in attempting to deny a vote on Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court? Not keeping Gorsuch off the court; he was approved on Friday. Not preserving the filibuster for use against any future Trump nominee; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell abolished the tactic on Thursday. Not ...