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Our experts answer readers' credit card questions and write unbiased product reviews (here's how we assess credit cards). I opened a new credit card for a single hotel stay largely because I knew it was the best card for my spending. Read Insider's guide to the best travel rewards credit cards. Let's look at how much value I gained simply by opening and using a Hilton credit card — and my earning potential had I not opened a Hilton credit card. What I would have earned without a Hilton credit cardHad I not opened a Hilton credit card, I'd have put my bill on one of my other credit cards.

Net sales of crude oil (-18 million barrels) were offset by purchases of refined fuels (+18 million barrels), according to position records published by ICE Futures and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Funds held a net position of 249 million barrels in crude (5th percentile for all weeks since 2013) with long positions outnumbering shorts by a ratio of 2.35:1 (13th percentile). In refined fuels, however, funds held a net position of 36 million barrels (20th percentile) with longs outnumbering shorts by 1.40:1 (20th percentile). Funds held a position of 45 million barrels in gasoline (38th percentile) on May 16, with longs outnumbering shorts by 4.20:1 (50th percentile). U.S. NATURAL GASInvestors became slightly more bullish about the outlook for U.S. gas prices following evidence that low prices are starting to curtail drilling activity, which will gradually eliminate surplus production.

☆ Alberta wildfires hit gas flow out of Canada to US, spiking prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] Smoke rises above the southeast perimeter of the Paskwa fire (HWF030) as it burns near Fox Lake, Alberta, Canada May 16, 2023. Alberta Wildfire/Handout via REUTERSOTTAWA, May 18 (Reuters) - Alberta officials on Thursday warned more wildfires could spread in next few hot and dry days, even as firefighters make progress in tackling widespread blazes that have slowed the outflow of natural gas from Canada into the United States, spiking prices. There were about 92 active wildfires and over 10,000 people out of their homes as of Thursday, Alberta officials told a daily briefing. "Firefighters can experience challenging conditions in hot, dry and windy weather, but progress has been made on many active wildfires," said Christie Tucker, information unit manager at Alberta Wildfire. "We are expecting and preparing for more active wildfire behavior today and over the next few days," she said.

☆ The 6 best credit cards for restaurants and dining in May 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Jennifer Yellin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

With many options available, we’ve put together a list of the best credit cards for restaurants and dining for May 2023. Let’s look at the dining credit cards we like and why we like them. The best credit cards for dining out in MayThere’s no one card that’s best for every foodie. This is the highest return you’ll receive amongst any other credit card on this list. Find out which cards CNN Underscored chose as our best travel credit cards currently available.

You can use a Hilton free night certificate at just about any Hilton hotel, including the stunning Waldorf Astoria Grand Wailea Resort in Maui. Hilton HotelsYou can earn Hilton free night certificates with select Amex Hilton credit cards. Hilton free night reward certificates are valid at almost any Hilton hotel, including luxury Conrad and Waldorf Astoria properties. Best Hilton hotels for using a free night certificateYou'll usually get the most value from your Hilton free night certificate by redeeming it at expensive properties or luxury beach resorts. How to use Hilton free night certificatesWhen you've earned a Hilton free night certificate, you'll receive an email from Hilton Honors letting you know your award is in your Hilton account.

☆ ONEOK shares drop on concerns over Magellan pipeline deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Laura Sanicola | Arathy Somasekhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

(Reuters) - Shares of gas pipeline operator ONEOK Inc fell about 9% on Monday on questions about potential synergies from its deal to acquire oil pipeline operator Magellan Midstream Partners. FILE PHOTO: A drilling rig operates in the Permian Basin oil and natural gas production area in Lea County, New Mexico, U.S., February 10, 2019. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File PhotoONEOK on Sunday said it would pay $18.8 billion in cash and stock for Magellan to diversify its natural gas and gas-liquids transportation business into oil and oil products. “The deferral of Oneok’s corporate cash taxes seems like a major deal component,” Mizuho analysts wrote in a research note. “ONEOK and Magellan have geographical overlap among their assets, but their primary businesses are very different,” Morris said.

Hedge funds and other money managers sold the equivalent of 17 million barrels in the six most important futures and options contracts over the seven days ending on May 9. The combined position was cut to just 285 million barrels (6th percentile for all weeks since 2013) down from 534 million barrels (38th percentile) on April 18. Funds sold the equivalent of 37 billion cubic feet over the seven days to May 9, taking total sales over the most recent three weeks to 206 billion cubic feet. The combined position slipped to 120 billion cubic feet net short (28th percentile for all weeks since 2010) down from 87 billion cubic feet net long (35th percentile) on April 18. The surplus was basically unchanged from +256 billion cubic feet (+15% or +0.60 standard deviations) eight weeks earlier on March 5.

☆ In major milestone, wind power was Britain's largest source of electricity in the first quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Gwynt y Mor offshore wind farm, in waters off the coast of Wales. The U.K. is home to a mature offshore wind sector. Wind power was Britain's biggest source of electricity in the first quarter of 2023, overtaking natural gas and highlighting the increasingly important role renewables are set to play in the years ahead. According to researchers at Imperial College London, wind turbines provided 32.4% of Britain's electricity in the first three months of the year. Wind turbines, according to the analysis, produced 24 terawatt hours of electricity.

☆ 3 Hilton credit cards are offering whopper welcome bonuses of up to 150,000 points plus a free night at nearly any Hilton hotel (even the fanciest resorts)
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Joseph Hostetler | Jasmin Baron | Sarah Silbert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +31 min

The Hilton Honors American Express Card, Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card , and The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card are offering a higher number of points than usual, plus a Hilton free night award certificate valid at just about any Hilton hotel (worth as much as 150,000 points). Earn 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with hotels and resorts within the Hilton portfolio. Those bonus points worth $650 in travel, based on Insider's valuation of Hilton points as worth 0.5 cents each. Details Rewards Earn 12x Hilton Honors Points at Hilton per dollar for purchases made directly with hotels and resorts in the Hilton portfolio. The best Hilton card for you depends on your spending habits and how often you stay with Hilton.

☆ Annual inflation cooled off slightly in April
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Minneapolis CNN —Annual inflation continued its slow-but-steady deceleration in April, according to the latest Consumer Price Index released Wednesday. The CPI climbed by 4.9% for the 12 months ended in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, representing a slightly slower pace of increase than the 5% in March. It’s the 10th consecutive month that the headline CPI rate has slowed, and it’s at its lowest rate since April 2021 — when this bout of painfully high inflation started to spike. Excluding food and energy costs, which tend to have more volatility, core CPI was unchanged at 5.5% for the 12 months ended in April. A welcome decline — albeit a slight one — came in the category of grocery prices, which fell 0.2% over the month, helping bring the annual rate of inflation there to 7.1%.

☆ Here’s the inflation breakdown for April 2023 — in one chart
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Where consumers saw prices fall in AprilConsumers saw average prices decline outright in April in certain categories. Housing — the largest component of the average household's budget — was the largest contributor to inflation in April, the BLS said. watch now"It looks like inflation in the [shelter] category has peaked," Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said. Overall, households are faring much better than they were months ago relative to inflation in staples like food, energy and housing, according to Zandi at Moody's Analytics. Why inflation surged to multi-decade highsConsumer prices began rising rapidly in early 2021 as the U.S. economy started to reopen after the pandemic-related shutdown.

As a result, the combined position had been reduced to just 302 million barrels (7th percentile for all weeks since 2013) on May 2 from 534 million barrels (38th percentile) on April 18. The position has essentially returned to where it was on March 21 (289 million barrels, 2.16:1) before OPEC⁺ surprised investors by announcing production cuts on April 2 totalling more than 1 million barrels per day. Chartbook: Oil and gas positionsThe most recent week saw sales across the board in Brent (-69 million barrels), NYMEX and ICE WTI (-37 million), European gas oil (-24 million), U.S. diesel (-11 million) and U.S. gasoline (-4 million). Fund managers had become especially bearish on middle distillates such as diesel and gas oil, the most exposed to the business cycle. Funds sold the equivalent of 71 billion cubic feet over the seven days ending on May 2, after selling 99 billion cubic feet the week before.

☆ Webb telescope spies evidence of hidden planets around nearby star
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The revelation of the Fomalhaut’s two inner rings has suggested that planets hidden deeper within the star system may be affecting the dust belt’s shape. Stars form from gas and dust, and then a ring of leftover material called a protoplanetary disk orbits the star, where planets are born. Once the planets form around a star, debris belts form and become shaped by the gravity of the planets. Studying the dust belts can help unlock more of the secrets behind how planetary systems form. “I think it’s not a very big leap to say there’s probably a really interesting planetary system around the star.”

☆ Marathon, APA profits beat on higher oil price, tighter supply
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 3 (Reuters) - U.S. shale oil producers Marathon Oil Corp (MRO.N) and APA Corp (APA.O) on Wednesday topped Wall Street's first-quarter profit estimates on strong crude prices and demand. APA lowered its full-year capital spending estimate to about $1.9 billion from about $2 billion, citing a decrease in natural gas output. Total oil production rose 4% in the January-March quarter to 197,185 barrels per day (bpd). Rival Marathon said its quarterly oil production increased 10.7% to 186,000 bpd. It forecast second-quarter oil production of about 190,000 bpd, or around the mid-point of its full-year outlook.

But growth is set to decelerate sharply as the more recent slump in prices curtails new drilling and well completions, with the impact evident by the fourth quarter of 2023. Chartbook: U.S. oil and gas productionMuch of the increase was the lagged effect of high prices and additional drilling during the first nine months of 2022. Slower drilling will filter through into slower production growth before the end of 2023, helping offset slower consumption growth as a result of the business cycle downturn. GAS PRODUCTIONU.S. gas production increased to a record 5,984 billion cubic feet in the first two months of 2023, up from 5,600 billion cubic feet in the same period in 2022, an increase of almost 7%. Working gas inventories in underground storage amounted to 2,009 billion cubic feet on April 21 compared with 1,484 billion cubic feet at the same point a year earlier.

The combined position fell to 447 million barrels (23rd percentile for all weeks since 2013) down from 534 million barrels (38th percentile) seven days earlier. Funds sold the equivalent of 99 billion cubic feet over the seven days ending on April 25, after buying a net total of 1,287 billion cubic feet in the previous eight weeks. The position slipped to 12 billion cubic feet net short (31st percentile for all weeks since 2006) from 87 billion cubic feet net long (34th percentile) a week earlier. Stocks were 280 billion cubic feet (+16% or +0.61 standard deviations) above the prior ten-year seasonal average on April 21, up from a deficit of 263 billion cubic feet (-8% or -0.98 standard deviations) on Jan. 1. Related columns:- Oil market has absorbed surprise production cut by OPEC⁺ (April 26, 2023)- Oil buying slows amid renewed concerns about economy (April 24, 2023)- Oil prices stall as short-covering rally is completed (April 17, 2023)John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst.

☆ BP shares slide as first-quarter profit dips
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Shares of BP fell more than 5% Tuesday after the energy giant said it would return less cash to investors following a drop in first-quarter profit. BP (BP) reported underlying profit of $5 billion for the first three months of the year. BP (BP), Chevron (CVX), ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies (TOT) handed more than $100 billion to their investors in 2022 via share buybacks and dividend payments. Looking ahead, BP said it expects oil prices to “remain elevated,” following supply cuts by OPEC+ and strengthening demand from China. Gas prices in Europe and Asia would be supported by recovering Chinese demand, restocking of European storage capacity and coal-to-gas switching, it added.

MarriottThe Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card has increased its welcome bonus to 125,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points after spending $5,000 in purchases within the first three months of card membership (offer ends 5/3/23). With an annual fee of $125, the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card is a little pricier than similar hotel credit cards. 6x Marriott Bonvoy Points on each dollar of eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy® program. Awards can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points) at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. But even without the elevated welcome bonus offer, the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex is well worth the annual fee.

☆ Visa earnings offer evidence of consumer strength and signals inflation is falling
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"Starting in March and through the summer, we will be lapping the peaks in fuel prices last year," Prabhu said. In 2022, fuel prices continued to rise through spring and peaked in June." Another reason ticket prices are lower: Retailers are discounting. Strong consumer. Lower inflation.

The most recent week saw purchases of NYMEX and ICE WTI (+12 million), Brent (+8 million), U.S. gasoline (+2 million) and European gas oil (+1 million) but sales of U.S. diesel (-3 million). But in products, the long-short ratio has increased to only 2.69:1 (40th percentile) from 2.39:1 (38th percentile) on March 21. And in middle distillates, such as gas oil and ultra-low sulphur diesel, the ratio has actually fallen slightly to 1.70:1 (33rd percentile) from 1.78:1 (35th percentile). Even on the crude side, however, the end of the short-covering process has sapped oil prices of some of their upward short-term momentum. U.S. NATURAL GASInvestors are becoming cautiously more bullish on U.S. gas prices, anticipating prices have already dropped so low the balance of risks is tilted strongly towards the upside.

☆ Oil rises but post weekly loss as economic uncertainty weighs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Erwin Seba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) rose 50 cents to $77.87 per barrel. Survey data from the euro zone and Britain lifted oil prices on Friday. In India, refiners' crude oil processing stayed near record peaks in March, provisional government data showed, catering to solid seasonal demand in the world's third biggest oil consumer. Oilfield services giant SLB (SLB.N) beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit, as elevated crude prices and tight supplies increased demand for its services. However, economic uncertainty and the prospect of rising interest rates continued to hang over oil markets.

Purchases over the three most recent weeks totalled 225 million barrels, among the largest increases over any three-week period in the last decade. As a result, fund managers held a combined position of 515 million barrels (34th percentile for all weeks since 2013) on April 11, up from just 289 million barrels (6th percentile) on March 21. But the pace of buying slackened noticeably last week as most of the short positions that existed in late March had been closed out. By April 11, total shorts had been reduced to just 125 million barrels (7th percentile) as bearish investors were squeezed out of the market. Fund short positions in NYMEX WTI were reduced to 24 million barrels, the lowest for almost six months, and down from 127 million barrels three weeks earlier.

☆ How little engines are taking over American cars in a big way
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

If Americans have experience with three-cylinder engines, it would probably have been in Europe where the engines are fairly common in tiny “city cars” used for basic, around-town transportation. Now, for the 2023 model year, there are ten different models available in the United States with three-cylinder engines, according to Edmunds.com. All of these are at least offered with three-cylinder engines, if not available only with that engine. Vehicles that would have once have been powered by eight-cylinder engines now have turbocharged six-cylinder engines, instead. GM currently offers two different three-cylinder engines and, Hommes said, plans to continue selling them even as GM moves toward selling nothing but electric passenger vehicles by 2035.

☆ US labor market gradually losing steam; producer inflation cooling
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Lucia Mutikani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Still, the labor market and inflation are likely not cooling fast enough to stop the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates one more time next month. Claims, however, remain below the 270,000 level, a breach of which economists say would signal a deterioration in the labor market. "The upcoming labor market downturn will be modest since the drop in demand is expected to be fairly modest." InflationThe annual PPI rate is subsiding as last year's large increases drop out of the calculation. In the 12 months through March, the core PPI advanced 3.6% after increasing 4.5% in February.

Administration officials believe the U.S., the world's largest oil consumer and global economy have entered a more predictable, less volatile phase. This year, gasoline prices have stabilized at lower levels, U.S. oil production is approaching record highs and the job market, while still strong, is cooling down along with inflation, administration officials say. Oil prices slipped on Thursday as the prospect of a possible recession in the US offset concerns of tight supply. Slowing economy or not, the OPEC move could still complicate Biden's efforts to tame nagging inflation and dampen gasoline prices at home, according to multiple interviews with U.S. officials and analysts. Discussions with refiners about expanding capacity or limiting fuel exports have dried up since last summer, oil executives told Reuters.

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