BP May Have Sank With its Tanker

Housing numbers may be good, but is the economy and market in a good place?

(Briefing.com) Support for stocks faded in recent action, but the stock market has been able to make a bit of a bounce on the back of some better-than-expected data. Pending home sales for April increased 6.0% month-over-month. That was actually stronger than the expected monthly increase of 5.0%, but it wasn't as impressive as the upwardly revised 7.1% monthly increase that was recorded for March. Year-over-year, pending home sales for the month of April are up 24.6%, which is stronger than the 20.2% annual increase that many had come to expect, but not quite as sharp as the 25.4% year-over-year increase recorded for March.

It seems the media is doing everything it can to keep the attention off of the horrific BP oil disaster, however, the truth is millions and millions of gallons of oil are floating through our ocean waters and heading towards shore. If this natural disaster is not fixed soon BP could be on the fast track to extinction. Furthermore, BP may already be a dead man walking with all the litigations and restitutions it will have to pay after this disaster ends. This environmental disaster will surely have a permanent affect on offshore drilling policy moving forward and drilling in the U.S. may have also seen its last days.

This all equates to an economic migraine of epic proportion. The economic costs of this disaster are still unknown but it’s just a matter of time before the oil slicks hit the shores of Florida, which depends heavily on tourism. According to the NOAA (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) The Gulf of Mexico produces nearly three-quarters of all U.S. shrimp, valued at $366.6 million in 2008, or more than half the value of all Gulf of Mexico fisheries. It produces more than two-thirds of all U.S. oysters, valued at more than $60 million. It produces about 30% of all crabs, valued at nearly $40 million. Economy stabilizing? I’d say not so much.