Journal Article
Commodity futures investing: method to the madness
Thies, Jackson; Plante, Michael D. (2012-05)
Just as there are popular indexes that measure the value of groups of stocks, such as the Dow Jones industrial average, there are indexes that do the same for commodity futures.
Economic Letter , Volume 7 , Issue 5

Journal Article
Market expectations and corn prices: looking into future to explain present
Thies, Jackson; Plante, Michael D. (2012-08)
Market expectations of future supply and demand are important in determining current prices for agricultural products such as corn, which are harvested annually and stored for later use. Prices can quickly move when beliefs change?due to new data, for example?even if events far in the future are involved.
Economic Letter , Volume 7 , Issue 7

Journal Article
What drives diesel fuel prices?
Brown, Stephen P. A.; Thies, Jackson (2009)
Historically, gasoline has commanded a premium over diesel, but that changed in mid-to-late 2007, when diesel rose above gasoline. In 2007 and 2008, however, gasoline traded higher than diesel only 21.1 percent of the time. This deviation from historic norms raises an interesting question--what drives diesel prices? As with virtually all petroleum-derived products, the story begins with oil prices. Seasonal patterns also play a significant role. Demand for a range of oil-based products changes with the weather, and prices fluctuate as refiners adjust their output mix. Government regulations ...
Economic Letter , Volume 4

Journal Article
Spotlight: upper East Texas in slump, region holds up better than U.S.
Thies, Jackson; Nicholson, Michael (2009-04)
As the U.S. and Texas slipped into recession last year, a balanced economy lessened the impact on upper East Texas. In March, the region's year-over-year nonfarm employment was down 0.4 percent, compared with the state's decline of 0.8 percent and the nation's 3.5 percent. Unemployment rates in the region's principal metros are near or below the state's 6.7 percent average.
Southwest Economy , Issue Q2 , Pages 7

Journal Article
Noteworthy: hurricane season, venture capital, exports
Nicholson, Michael; Thies, Jackson; Renier, Jessica (2008-09)
Ike deals severe blow to Texas economy. Texas investment funding slips in 2nd quarter. Latin America, China lead Texas surge in overseas sales.
Southwest Economy , Issue Sep , Pages 5

Journal Article
Noteworthy: energy: oil, gasoline price spikes unlikely in 2009
Thies, Jackson (2008-11)
Southwest Economy , Issue Nov , Pages 14

Journal Article
Noteworthy: commercial building: Texas shows signs of weakening
Thies, Jackson (2009-01)
Texas commercial construction held up relatively well throughout 2008--in the broad view, at least.
Southwest Economy , Issue Q1 , Pages 15

Journal Article
Spotlight: Texas wind energy: tax breaks, transmission lines key to growth
Thies, Jackson (2009-07)
Texas became the nation's most prolific generator of wind power in the past decade, but the industry's future growth will depend on tax incentives to make it cost competitive and new transmission lines to get electricity to consumers.
Southwest Economy , Issue Q3 , Pages 15

Journal Article
Noteworthy: oil markets: Saudis abandon WTI price as benchmark
Thies, Jackson (2010-01)
Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company no longer uses West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil as its pricing benchmark. Saudi Aramco, the third largest U.S. oil supplier, switched to the Argus Sour Crude Index (ASCI) in January.
Southwest Economy , Issue Q1 , Pages 15

Journal Article
Noteworthy: Gulf oil spill: Costs of well disaster still piling up
Thies, Jackson (2010-10)
British Petroleum's Macondo well blew out April 20 as the Deepwater Horizon platform sunk. By the time the well was capped on July 15, an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil had flowed into the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. government and BP are still assembling a definitive estimate of the flow; the final figure is likely to be a source of contention because it will be the basis for determining financial penalties.
Southwest Economy , Issue Q4 , Pages 14