Brent’s Texas Two Step

Plus: People will do anything to tune out bad economic news — even read books ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

June 1, 2023

Read in Browser

Good morning.

If there’s one thing harder than staying in the saddle of a bucking horse it’s putting on your seatbelt in a Ford Bronco.

Ford is recalling 176,000 of its Bronco SUVs because the seatbelts aren’t ergonomic. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that drivers and front-seat passengers are having a difficult time grabbing the seatbelt from over the shoulder, causing some to forgo the seatbelts altogether. While a setback for Ford, it’s not the scariest reason for a recall. That award goes to the 1,400 2023 Broncos and Rangers that were sent back to the factory because some lugnuts may have not been tight enough, which could cause the car’s wheels to fall off. Whoa, Nelly!

Morning Brief

•

Oil is a complicated business.

•

Publishing’s white knights are fantasy novels and TikTok.

•

FIFA v Broadcasters, 0-0.

Commodities

Texas Oil is Now Part of the Brent Oil Benchmark

(Photo Credit: Zbynek Burival/Unsplash)

Brent crude, the world’s most traded oil benchmark, has picked up a Texas twang.

Starting today, a particular type of US oil will factor into calculating rates for Brent crude, the European benchmark commodity that is the mainstay for global oil pricing. The shift signifies America’s growing influence in the world energy market.

Oil is Not Universal

To understand how oil pricing works, consider local currencies — while they all generally fulfill the same function, that doesn’t mean they’re equal in the global economy. One US dollar is 0.95 euros, which is 140 Japanese yen, which is 21 Turkish Lira. Even though there are more than 150 different currencies, one is often the standard that influences global trade — since the tail end of World War II, it’s been the US dollar.

In the world of gas, that benchmark is Brent crude – an index based on oils collected from fields in the North Sea about 100 miles off the coast of Scotland. And now, oil drilled near Midland, Texas, will be added to that benchmark. So what does that all mean?

•

In the aftermath of the first oil crisis, Congress in 1975 banned the export of US oil, which remained in place for 40 years. By the time the ban was lifted, America was on its way to becoming the world’s No. 1 oil producer and quickly started making its presence known on the global energy market. Last year, the US exported about 9.6 million barrels of oil per day, according to the Energy Information Administration.

•

With some of that oil now being added to Brent crude calculations, it’s growing America’s influence not just on oil pricing but also everything that reacts to those oil prices. As The Wall Street Journal reported, the Brent benchmark ties “Nigerian oil wells and Chinese refiners to the flickering screens of Wall Street. It can make or break fortunes for hedge funds, dictate wartime revenue for the Kremlin, and determine fuel costs for businesses and drivers around the world.”

Why Pull America into the Mix? Originally, the benchmark was based solely on oil sourced from just the Brent oilfield. But once production there started to decline in the 1980s, Platts, the reporting agency and part of S&P Global that calculates the benchmark, added other North Sea oilfields to the formula: the Forties, Ekofisk, Oseberg, and Troll fields. But Texas, where everything is big, became too big to ignore. So to keep the benchmark the standard and reflect the US’ fossil fuel boom, Platts is donning some cowboy boots along with its traditional Scottish tartan.

–Griffin Kelly

Publishing

Harry Potter Publisher Sees Record Sales

There’s nothing quite like a good book to take your mind off the economy blowing up.

Bloomsbury, the UK publisher famous for publishing the Harry Potter series, reported on Wednesday that it saw a 15% increase in sales year-over-year to February 28, accompanied by a 16% increase in profit. The company seemed to chalk its success up to two unlikely allies: the current macroeconomic hellscape, and TikTok.

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Inflation

With the cost of living so high, Bloomsbury’s CEO Nigel Newton says books have found their niche as affordable entertainment. A key ingredient in Bloomsbury’s ability to cash in on hard times is a specific genre perfect for escapism: fantasy. The publisher flagged upgraded guidance in March, and said then that more and more readers are turning to fantasy book series. “People have had too much reality, they’re turning to books as an enjoyable form of escape from quotidian worries,” Newton said at the time.

Another factor working in Bloomsbury’s favor is “BookTok,” a.k.a. The part of TikTok where users recommend books to each other. Some observers have turned up their noses at BookTok, saying it’s more about aesthetics than actual reading — not that it matters to Bloomsbury’s sales department:

•

A jewel in Bloomsbury’s crown is Sarah J. Maas, an author of fantasy young adult novels that have a knack for going viral on BookTok. Bloomsbury has contracted Maas for seven more books to plump out her growing oeuvre.

•

The publishing industry is actively trying to stoke BookTok, and last year Penguin Randomhouse struck a deal with TikTok to let users link out to specific books in their videos, as well as recruiting influential BookTokers.

Think Of The Children: Much as TikTok and its social media forerunners have been blamed by some for obliterating children’s attention spans, it’s possible it’s actually given reading among children a boost. The 2023 edition of the UK and Ireland What Children Are Reading report found kids read 25% more books compared to the previous year, and specifically called out BookTok for stimulating interest in reading. However, this stat does come with a footnote, as the report found older children were reading less advanced books, rather than progressing onto more complex reads. In other words, Charles Dickens needs to learn a few more dance moves.

– Isobel Asher Hamilton

SPONSORED BY THE MOTLEY FOOL

These 5 Stocks Just Hit The Bargain Bin

…And The Motley Fool spells them all out in this report.

Like one stock seeing a 44% pullback from its all-time high that just crushed earnings and opened up business in a new addressable market worth double its existing market.

Or this online retailer on a 34% pullback that is showing solid revenue growth and higher-than-expected EPS.

When The Motley Fool makes a stock pick, our ears always perk up. After all, they did suggest Tesla in 2012 when it was priced at $6.37. It’s gone up a bit since then.

Download “5 Pullback Stocks That Are On Sale Now” to get The Motley Fool’s fresh slate of stock picks before their potential is realized.**

Sport

European Governments Press FIFA for Women’s World Cup TV Rights

The biggest girlboss of them all? Why it’s Gianni Infantino of course.

The governments of the UK, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy released a joint statement on Wednesday in an effort to resolve a stalemate over the TV rights to the Women’s World Cup that has FIFA president Gianni Infantino threatening to withhold the tournament entirely.

I Am Infantino, Hear Me Roar

Women’s soccer is fast accumulating commercial critical mass. The 2022 UEFA European Women’s Football Championship drew a record global viewership of 365 million people, more than double the viewership of the previous tournament in 2017.

Now the World Cup is due to start on July 20 in Australia and New Zealand, and FIFA is holding out for a better deal:

•

Historically, FIFA has included broadcasting rights for the Women’s World Cup when sealing the rights for the men’s world cup. This marks the first year when the deals have been negotiated separately.

•

Infantino said in early May that European broadcasters had offered between $1 million and $10 million for the rights, which he called a “slap in the face of all the great FIFA Women’s World Cup players and indeed of all women worldwide.” For reference, broadcasters offer somewhere around $100 million to $200 million for the men’s World Cup.

To some pundits, Infantino’s comments rang more Mean Girls than She-EO. Ex-FIFA Council member Moya Dodd said soon afterward it was “a bit rich to scold broadcasters for underpaying,” adding: “If you look at the history, FIFA itself never put any value on the women’s [game’s] rights.”

Beware Sportsflation: Soccer isn’t the only sport where broadcasting rights are exorbitant. According to a JPMorgan report published in early May, the money being pumped into sports media rights and resulting inflation is “unsustainable long-term.” Kind of an own-goal waiting to happen.

– Isobel Asher Hamilton

Extra Upside

•

Look on the bright side. Elizabeth Holmes appears surprisingly happy as she begins 11-year prison sentence.

•

Not the bees! Beekeepers in the UK are bracing themselves for a wave of honeybees.

•

Create and close more deals using the only platform with Live AI. Outreach is the only sales execution platform that unlocks seller productivity across the complete sales cycle. Informed by millions of closed deals, Outreach’s Live AI capabilities give sellers useful insights in the moment, so reps can win more deals, faster. With Outreach, sales teams have increased win rates by 13% and boosted revenue 9%. Learn how to efficiently and predictably deliver more revenue.*

*Partner.

Just For Fun

Ugh, there’s always a line.

Try, try, try again.

Disclaimer

**Returns as of April 17, 2023.

ADVERTISE // CAREERS

No longer want to receive these emails? Unsubscribe here.

//campaignmonitornewsletter.everestengagement.com/ea/BntD2QJCyg/?e=postie@btcnews.com.au’ width=’1′ height=’1′ style=”margin-top:0 !important;margin-bottom:0 !important;margin-right:0 !important;margin-left:0 !important;padding-top:0 !important;padding-bottom:0 !important;padding-right:0 !important;padding-left:0 !important;border-width:0 !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important;-ms-interpolation-mode:bicubic;” />