Equity Markets Shift Concerns to Oil

The world equity markets have been on a tear to the upside since August. Since November, a second leg up has taken place. With the chaos started erupting in the Middle East first with Tunisia and then Egypt, the equity markets marched up without much of a hiccup. The thinking may have been that there was little blood shed (which of course is great) and that oil supply disruption was negligible. However with the unrest in Libya turning into a violent situation, the unknowns about world oil supply start to go up. Since world economies have been strengthening, questions about energy supplies could cause large oil price spikes. Already the barrel is up about $10 in the US. Gasoline prices have also followed suit.