The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) has approved the temporary price increases for commercial domestic parcel products that USPS proposed last month. Retail prices for parcel products are unaffected. The planned commercial price increases for Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, First-Class Package Service (FCPS) and Commercial Parcel Select will take effect Oct. 18, 2020 at 12 a.m. Central time and continue until Dec. 27, 2020 at 12 a.m. Central time. After that, prices will revert to 2020 prices. The temporary price adjustments are in response to heightened package volume due to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as expected increases in online shopping during the holidays. Details at: https://www.prc.gov/docs/114/114473/Order5673.pdf

Futures in New York slid 0.3 percent after closing at the highest since Feb. 5 on Monday as crude exports from a key Libyan terminal were disrupted. The focus now shifts to U.S. stockpiles, which are forecast to have risen last week. While they increased in three of the past four weeks, the pace of gains slowed, allaying fears that American supply will undermine OPEC’s output curbs. U.S. inventories probably rose by 2 million barrels last week, following a surprise drop in the previous week, according to a Bloomberg survey before Energy Information Administration data due Wednesday. The number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. has risen for five consecutive weeks to the highest in almost three years, Baker Hughes data show. Click Read More below for additional information.