Libya

Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi's hold on Libya crumbled over the weekend, as rebel forces marched on the nation's capital of Tripoli and arrested the leader's two sons. While the Colonel's whereabouts remained unknown Monday, it was increasingly clear that his power over the North Africa nation was...

Oil prices were falling on Monday as news broke that Rebel fighters were pouring into the Libyan capital of Tripoli in what seemed to be a final push to oust long time Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. The market seems to be anticipating that Muammar Gaddafi's rule will soon come to an end...

There is a lot of money in making war and even more to be made when the shooting stops. An investor who, like the majority of the world's politicians, has a moral compass that always points to opportunity and knows that blood on the hands easily washes off, can find plenty of interesting plays in...

Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) is on tap to report first-quarter 2011 earnings tomorrow morning, May 3. Analysts expect the company to announce that per-share earnings rose 69.4% from a year ago to $1.44. Note that the consensus estimate was $1.08 just 60 days ago. Revenue for the quarter is expected to...

The Wall Street Journal reported last night that Libyan rebels have hijacked Muammar Gadhafi's phone network, and have begun to re-establish communications for themselves. The new network will give more than 2 million Libyans their first access to the outside world after the Libyan dictator cut...

Fitch Ratings announced on Wednesday that it downgraded Libya's credit rating to B from BB and lowered the country's long term local and foreign currency issue default ratings to B from BB/RWN. According to Fitch Ratings, the downgrade was due to the instability caused by the civil war currently...

Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki has posted an essay responding to a piece by CNN.com's National Security Analyst, Peter Bergen, in which he called Al Qaeda the “loser” of the Arab revolutions. Bergen said that in his previous piece, he said that Osama bin Laden must be “watching the events...

Oil prices rose to a 2 1/2 year high during trading in Asia, as the market reacted to news that rebels in Libya had suffered setbacks and a rise in China's Purchasing Managers Index. After declining for months, China's Purchasing Managers Index for March climbed to 53.4, up from 52.2 for February...

Oil prices fell during trading in Asia on Monday, as rebel advances in Libya led to the recapture of the two important oil towns of Brega and Ras Lanuf. The United Nations Security Council approved a no-fly zone that is being enforced by Western air and sea power, which has allowed the Libyan...

One of the casualties of the Japan earthquake and tsunami was Yen, Japan's currency. Rather than tanking because of the extra liquidity Bank of Japan provided for the market, Yen surged against all other currencies instead. In this case, traders followed the same playbook for the 1995 Kobe quake...

During a press conference this afternoon, President Obama said that before striking Khaddafy, “we had done all the work” to prepare for the situation. “It was a matter of seeing how Khaddafy would react to the warning I issued on Friday,” Obama said, adding that when Khaddafy continued to act...

Oil prices were moving higher on Friday after the United Nations Security Council authorized a no-fly zone over Libya. In the week before the no-fly zone was announced, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces seemed to be making progress. Better equipped than their opponents and backed by air...

With continuing civil unrest in Libya and fears of contagion into Saudi Arabia, the global financial markets once again had an excuse to be volatile. This past week has probably had more headlines than we have seen in past several months, so combine that with an extended run in equities and...

South Korean stocks rose sharply during Thursday trading in Seoul on news that the country's factory output had surged higher in January. The export-driven economy's factory output climbed 4.6% above the previous month's level and 13.7% above the January 2010 level. The growth looks set to continue...

Reuters has published statistics that shows a clear picture of the economic landscape of countries in the Middle East. Even though Libya has a population of just 6.6 million people, the country is responsible for more than 2 percent of all global oil production. Libya's inflation is low at 3.5...