Germans collecting wood pellets.

Major economies diverged in the most-recent quarter, underscored by a second-straight decline in US gross domestic product while results for the euro-zone shocked to the upside." ET. Consumer spending in the US slowed in the April-June period, while Germany's economy failed to keep pace with the rest of the continent." "Meantime, global inflation measures remain broadly elevated, with a closely watched gauge in the US rising the most in 40 years and Europe registering another record high." "Exxon Mobil Corp.'s cash haul overtook that of Alphabet Inc for the first time since 2018," as "Exxon which lost money for the first time in its history during the pandemic, now ranks as the S&P 500 Index's third largest generator of free cash flow, behind only Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp." Oil companies are raking it in from high oil prices as Brent crude is trading at $102.9 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is selling at $97.32 per barrel. oilprice.com.  The result is that, "The global economy is mired in a serious slowdown, with some key economies at high risk of recession and only sparse meaningful cooling in inflation likely over the coming year, according to Reuters polls of hundreds of economists worldwide." ET. "Of the 48 economies covered, 77% of growth forecasts were downgraded for next year with only 13% left unchanged and 10% upgraded." "Russia's cut in supplies through its main gas pipeline to Germany will leave countries unable to meet goals to refill storage and Europe's biggest economy faced with rationing industry to keep its citizens warm during the winter months." Reuters. "Russian gas giant Gazprom said...it was cutting gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to 33 million cubic meters." DW. "That would correspond to 20% of the pipeline's capacity. The current flow of gas into Germany is only at 40%." The central German city of Hanover "has become the first major European city to switch off hot water in public buildings, with no warm water in washrooms and no hot showers in swimming pools and sports halls." DW. "The owner of this mill in a small town close to Bonn in western Germany removes his headset and begins telling stories of Germans stockpiling wood out of fear of the energy crisis looming due to the war in Ukraine. As "Rosgen's supplier, the pellet plant, has run out of stock. The pellets of compressed sawdust are pumped directly into delivery trucks while still hot. The plant can barely keep up with production." DW. "A scramble to get European Union countries to agree to 'voluntarily' reduce their gas consumption by 15% has highlighted major divisions among member states." DW. National governments have to answer to their voters but the EU does not. US companies are getting rich at the cost of Europe. When will they ever learn?