Oil prices have been subject to big swings this year. Since June, though, fundamental demand factors have been supportive, and with global economic growth firming, the outlook for oil is bright. The significant — and surprising — midyear crude oil price selloff was triggered at the beginning of June by China’s Caixin PMI for May, which showed a contraction in ...

Judging from General Motors Co.’s test cars and Elon Musk’s predictions, the world is headed toward a future that’s both driverless and all-electric. In reality, autonomy and battery power could end up being at odds. That’s because self-driving technology is a huge power drain. Some of today’s prototypes for fully autonomous systems consume two to four kilowatts of electricity—the equivalent ...

Bloomberg The guardians of the world economy brushed aside soaring stock and asset prices as a threat to economic and financial stability even as some bankers warned that investors risk repeating their pre-crisis complacency. The rare turnabout in which central bankers and finance ministers expressed comfort with the level of markets—even as private-sector executives urged caution—took place in and around ...