The day the oil machine went down - part 1

Investor Update - April 26th, 2020

This week the oil machine went down.  You may have gotten some notifications.

We say the oil machine broke, because in spite of the headlines, the oil market did not break this week. 

Only the portfolios of certain players in the market.  Which will never be the same.

WTI was fine.  The market for oil was fine. The May contract closed.  Though with record, and confusingly abstract, volatility.

“Our systems weren’t built for negative numbers,” they said. Again.

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Ok, so why  did the machine go down?  And, more importantly, can it happen again?

The long story is an interesting fable*.  One made up of humans, breaking machines, on purpose.  Presented in the form of a poem, attached.. 

The short answer, too many real barrels of oil, not enough places to stash it.  Even with a lot of paper interesting in doing so.