Last week's oil spike

You remember how last week the price of oil spiked $25 on September 22 (closing up $15)? Don't read too much into that. When the media report on the price of oil, they seem to report on the spot price of the futures contracts with the soonest delivery dates. Contracts are for delivery on the first of the month. There are October contracts, November contracts, December contracts, etc.

September 22 was the last day to trade October contracts. Anyone who wanted an oil delivery for October had to buy that day. That magnified the normal market movement on that day. The contract for November went up by $6.62, which was a lot, but much less than the October one.

The price of oil isn't smooth because the market isn't smooth. There is a basic structure to the contracts to make them regular and consistent, and thus easier to trade. The down side of that is it introduces variables other than plain old supply and demand that have to do with the mechanics of trading and delivery. The oil market isn't the only market where such things happen, but that's where this phenomenon most recently manifested.

Credit to The Economist.

Triveria

Did you know four of the longest rivers in the world are partly or completely in Russia? They are the Yenisei - Angara - Selenga (#5), Ob - Irtysh (#7), Amur - Argun (#9), and Lena (#10).

Also from that same page... You know that the Amazon is the largest river by volume, but did you know by how much? Its discharge is fully five times the discharge of the second largest river, the Congo, and seven times that of the might Yangtze, the third largest.

Drivers with more bumper stickers are more aggressive

Article. In short, bumper stickers are a way of marking territory. The more territorial you are, the more bumper stickers you have. The more territorial you are, the more aggressive you are. I wonder if that holds true for people whose cars are covered with bumper stickers, of which there are at least a few in every town.

For the record, we have no bumper stickers on either car.

The Panama Canal

Though it connects the Atlantic on the east to the Pacific on the west, the Panama Canal goes from Colon in the northwest to Panama City in the southeast.


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Kiwitaly

Italy is the world's top producer of Kiwi fruit, growing some 42% of the world's crop. The Kiwi is native to China, and is the national fruit of that country, even though it isn't even in the top 10 producers.

Cow magnets

Domesticated cattle often ingest small bits of metal in their feed, called tramp iron, like staples, baling wire, or nails. These can cause damage to the digestive tract in a phenomenon known as Hardware Disease. The incidence and severity of this condition can be reduced by feeding the cow a device called a cow magnet. This gathers together all of the loose, dangerous bits of metal together and prevents them from moving around and causing damage. This magnet cannot be passed, and remains in the animal until death.

Longfellow was sloppy

"Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of William Dawes."

Nope. Doesn't rhyme. What about...

"Of the midnight ride of Samuel Prescott."

Doh. Ok, how about:

"Of the midnight ride of Israel Bissell."

Ok, last try:

"Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere."

There we go. All done.

VP Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon had just turned 40 when he was sworn in as Vice President. Wow. That's young, at least according to conventional measurements*.

* The new biography "Nixonland" by Rick Perlstein describes him as "an old man’s idea of a young man."

toilets and the coriolis effect

FYI, water in toilets in the Southern Hemisphere does not actually drain in the opposite direction. Just search for "coriolis toilet" for more.

Pasadena and Pasadena

Pasadena, TX, is #161 on the list of largest American cities. Pasadena, CA, is #162.