Plain Markets
Market Engineering
Why markets move the way they do — and when they don't.
Glossary
Crack spread
A crack spread is the price difference between a barrel of crude oil and the refined products — like gasoline or diesel — made from it. If a refinery buys crude oil for $80 and sells the resulting fuels for $110, the crack spread is $30. This margin shows how profitable it is for refineries to turn raw oil into usable fuel.
Finance notes
Why do bond prices fall when yields rise?
Higher yields usually mean lower fixed-rate bond prices, but the shortcut can fail when the yield or cash flows being compared are different.
Why does gold often rise when the dollar falls?
Gold is quoted in dollars, so a weaker dollar mechanically lifts the gold price — but the link is a tendency, not a rule, and it breaks in predictable ways.