Wall Street's watching Hurricane Harvey devastation
Catastrophic flooding from deadly Hurricane Harvey is pushing gasoline prices higher. About a quarter of gulf oil production is now off-line. With more rain on the way, oil companies are waiting to see the damage to their plants. And, prices at the gas pump? They're rising and may continue to rise next month after Labor Day Weekend, when prices typically go down.
The cost of the flooding could equal that of Hurricane Katrina when fifteen billion dollars in flood insurance losses were paid out by the National Flood Insurance Program. The federal program is already deeply in debt. And, the damage from the storm could hit forty billion dollars.
Wall Street is watching the devastation. Back on Friday, the market saw a very light day in terms of volume, but the Dow did rise thirty points. The Nasdaq fell five.