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- Oil prices fell below $0. Here's why.
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US stocks finished lower on Monday, amid a historic selloff in the oil market.
US oil futures settled in negative territory for the first time in history as demand for the commodity remains thin and storage capacity in the US is at its limit. The May futures contract is also about to expire, which made trading more erratic.
US oil prices turned negative Monday for the first time ever as the great oil crash of 2020 took a bizarre turn.
The historic collapse shows just how terribly oversupplied the oil market has become. There are real fears that the world will soon run out of places to store barrels.
Part of the reason oil was so volatile is that trading volume was very light in the May contract, which expires Tuesday. That low liquidity set the stage for the unusual scenario of negative prices.
Although the May contract turned negative, the June contract was still trading above $20 a barrel. Brent crude, the world benchmark, traded above $25.
Crude finished at $18.27 a barrel on Friday, meaning they collapsed by more than 200% in one day.
Oil is so cheap that producers are paying to stockpilers to take barrels off their hands.
Part of Monday's nosedive is being driven by the fact that the May futures contract expires Tuesday, amplifying fears over a lack of storage space.
Stocks are dragged lower by a collapse in oil prices. US oil fell to a low of just over $4 a barrel for May delivery. The selloff is being driven by the contract rolling off tomorrow and concerns over storage limits of physical oil.
JBS USA, a major meat processor, is indefinitely closing its pork production facility in Worthington, Minnesota, the company said Monday.
"We don’t make this decision lightly,” Bob Krebs, President of JBS USA Pork, said in a statement. “We recognize JBS Worthington is critical to local hog producers, the US food supply and the many businesses that support the facility each and every day.”
The Worthington facility processes more than 20,000 hogs each day, and employs more than 2,000 people. Over the next few days, a smaller staff will keep the plant running to move inventory through the system.
JBS USA has closed two plants prior to this one. One, in Souderton, Pennsylvania, reopened on Monday. Another, in Greeley, Colorado, is still closed.
Health care and consumer stocks are helping push the Nasdaq higher.