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The unemployment numbers just came out and showed that the U.S. economy lost 467,000 jobs last month. That was the trigger for the oil traders. Within a few minutes oil dropped $2.02 per barrel to $67.19 at 9:07 EDT.

Adding fuel to the decline was the report that gasoline stockpiles rose by 2.9 million barrels, but crude dropped 3.7 million barrels.

Why did China raise its gasoline and diesel prices? Beijing has a pricing policy that uses a 22-day moving average of crude oil. With the price of crude oil trading at around $71 per barrel, China felt it necessary to raise the price of gasoline and diesel fuel 9% and 10%, respectively. This will raise the price of a gallon of gasoline to $3.00 per gallon, compared with the U.S. price of $2.66 a week ago, according to Reuters news service.

With economies around the world gaining ground this quarter, it follows that demand for crude oil is also increasing. So far we've seen a doubling of oil prices since last February. The main concern is, given the pace of recovery, is there a point where demand for crude oil and gasoline will taper off. If so, we may be looking at an intermediate top in oil prices. However, if world economies continue to improve, crude oil could move to $75 to $80 per barrel.

U.S. stock futures were higher Wednesday morning as stocks were ready to start off the third quarter on a positive note. However, several key economic reports are due out this morning, including reports on manufacturing, employment and housing. Recently, manufacturing has shown improvement in other parts of the world.

Stocks finished the second quarter Tuesday on a down note, but that couldn't erase the advances indices made during the quarter with the Dow Jones Industrial Average finishing the second quarter up 11 percent, the S&P 500 rose 15 percent and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 20 percent.

U.S. stock futures were higher Tuesday morning, indicating that on the last day of the second quarter and first half of 2009 Wall Street is poised to start on a positive tone. Seems investors were ready to extend the biggest rally stocks have staged in a quarter in about a decade . Investors this morning also await several economic indicators -- including housing and consumer confidence -- due out later this morning, hoping further signs the economy have stabilized are in the cards and a recovery is ahead in the second half of the year.

At 9:00 a.m. EDT, the Conference Board will release the June Consumer Confidence index, which is expected to have risen to 55.3 from 54.9, according to Briefing.com. The housing sector will also be in focus as at the same time the S&P/Case Shiller 20-city home price index for April is expected to show a decline from the year ago period. FInally, at 9:45 a.m., June's Chicago PMI, a regional manufacturing index, is expected to show it rose in June.

U.S. stock futures edged higher Monday morning. As investors start taking toll of the first half ending tomorrow, today many will focus on the sentencing of Bernard Madoff for his multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. Investors will also gear up for several key economic reading coming later in this shortened holiday week.

The Bernard Madoff's sentencing hearing, coming six months after the scandal came to light, will take front stage today. Madoff masterminded a multibillion dollar Ponzi scheme that wiped out fortunes, ruined charities and foundations, and even pushed some investors to commit suicide. His lawyer insists 12 years in prison is enough, while prosecutors demand a 150-year sentence fort he 71-year-old.

The interest in using natural gas as an alternative to crude has helped natural gas-based companies appreciate in value. Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) has benefited from that interest, with a gain of more than 20% this year.

CHK is an interesting story in that during the craze in energy prices in 2008, the CEO of the company was forced to liquidate his entire position. That forced selling created an opportunity to buy the stock at an incredibly cheap price, even beyond the artificially low energy prices reached earlier this year.

The China miracle is back on track, and with it comes speculation for resource demand as a result of huge economic growth. Within the oil sector, the coal group has seen big gains given its use in power generation. In China, that is particularly true, with the country seeing new power plants open on a regular basis.

Yanzhou Coal Mining (NYSE: YZC) appears to be in the sweet spot. Investors seem to agree and have pushed YZC up almost 70% in 2009. China is an appealing play, but by no means certain.

Drill, baby, drill was the calling card of the Republican Party during the last presidential election.

With high oil prices and rising demand, finding new sources of oil is imperative. Given environmental concerns, offshore drilling is one space that still offers meaningful potential to increase domestic supply.

Diamond Offshore Drilling (NYSE: DO) operates some 45 deep water rigs that are keeping extraordinarily busy with oil prices on the rise.

Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU) is a vertically-integrated oil company located in Canada. Unlike its vertically-integrated brethren in the United States, this Canadian stock is up more than 40% this year. By comparison, Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) is down 13%, and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is down more than 20%.

The reason for the big difference in performance is the weakness in the dollar. That makes Canadian-based Suncor more valuable to investors.

McDermott International (NYSE: MDR) is a global oil engineering and construction company that specializes in offshore oil and gas construction and power generation systems.

Although more diversified than pure oil plays, McDermott has benefited greatly from the increase in price in crude.

The speculation is that McDermott will be quite busy with construction projects, as drillers are more active with the higher prices.

Inflation. Everybody agrees it's coming back. Make that roaring back. No one says otherwise. After all, the government is spending money like it's someone else's (it is ... ours). With extreme stimulus, surely inflation will have to be a problem, commodity prices have to rise, real estate has to go up, too much money will chase too few goods and services. That's the classic definition of inflation.

It's obvious what investors have to do: they have to buy inflation-proof investments, such as gold, commodities and real estate. Maybe it's too obvious. Maybe if everyone else is buying those things, there's reason to pause and reconsider.

You have to love OPEC. It's not uncommon for the barons of the giant cartel to voice their interest in seeing oil at such-and-such a price.

Recently, OPEC reiterated its desire to see oil prices at $80 per barrel. This, they claim, is the price needed to spur additional investment in crude projects. Apparently, anything less will result in oil sitting idle in the ground.

The first half of 2009 has whizzed by in what seems like a macroeconomic eye-blink. Wasn't President Obama inaugurated just a few weeks ago? It's a cliché but it's true: time flies.

The nation has made strides to recover from its near-decade of policy errors, but much work remains. Accordingly, then, here are three economic wishes for the United States for the second half of the year:

U.S. stock futures again turned lower Friday morning, indicating Wall Street could start on a down note to finish off a week of choppy trading. While Thursday stocks rallied, they've slumped most of the week, with indices still down on the week. This morning investors await reading on personal income and spending and inflation.

Meanwhile, the dollar declined against other currencies after China's central bank renewed its call for a global currency that would be delinked from any one economy. The banks also said the country's financial institutions face a tougher environment this year.

U.S. stock futures advanced Wednesday morning, pointing to a higher open on Wall Street, but trading is expected to be cautious as investors await the Federal Reserve policy statement this afternoon, which would also give clues about the state of the economy. Meanwhile, another group said the global recession is near a bottom, but flared up concerns over banks again. More economic data due out later this morning could the market a better sense of direction.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Wednesday the deepest global recession in over 60 years is close to bottoming out. While this view may be more optimistic than the World Bank's or the IMF recently, the OECD has similar projections regarding the recovery, which will be weak unless governments do more to remove uncertainty over banks' balance sheets.