I’m getting tired of this relentless heat.

Aren’t you?

Don’t know where you are located, but things here at the Worldwide Headquarters continue to be, well, damn dangerous if one has to be outside for any period of time. As long as I have lived in this part of the world, I can’t remember a time when we’ve had a longer string of days — all over 100 degrees — with heat indexes in the 110s and 120s. And the 130s this last weekend.

No, this isn’t like 115 degrees in Phoenix. I’ve been in that heat. This is like suffocating humid heavy air that makes it hard to breathe.

So I decided to come up with a new name for days like this.

It’s so hot, it’s a “Panting Cat Day.”

We all know about the “dog days” of summer.

Well, this is for those days that go above and beyond.

Think about it. Cats have an image to protect. They aren’t like goofy dogs. Dogs pant all the time. And slobber. And pant some more.

Cats are too sophisticated for all that nonsense.

Bottomline — when you see a cat that succumbs to panting — it’s hot.

Well, I’ve got four of them, and I can tell you — it’s a “Panting Cat” kind of day. Again.

Then, of course,  they come inside and it’s a “lounge on the cool slate floor” kind of day.

Can’t wait to see my electric bill this month. I paid enough last month to pay the monthly payment on a new BMW. Unfortunately it wasn’t a payment on a new BMW.

Aside from all this, what’s going on up on Wall Street today? Is it a “Panting Trader” kind of day?

Well, as far as airline stocks go, it’s a “Sagging Fortunes” kind of day.

I won’t go into the economic news of the day. Suffice it to say — inflation is still creeping around, the DJIA is now down more than 100 points for the day, and the mortgage-induced mess is still with us. Trust me, that mess ain’t going away anytime soon.

But the news that is of import to the things with wings today is oil.

The government releases its energy inventory numbers every Wednesday. Today, the numbers were not positive. As a result, the majority of airline stocks are wallowing in red.

The government reported this morning that crude oil inventories fell 5.2 million barrels to 335.2 million barrels in the latest week. This was about double the drop that had been expected. Gasoline inventories declined 1.1 million barrels to 201.9 million barrels, while distillate stocks, which include jet fuel, rose by 200,000 barrels to 127.7 million barrels.

As of this posting, oil is trading at 73.20/barrel, up almost a buck on the day.

Also — just a reminder. It is hurricane season and we now have a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico headed towards Texas, but more importantly we’ve got a tropical storm named Dean that has formed in what we lovingly call “hurricane alley.” I have no doubt that Dean will be a full-fledged hurricane by Friday.

So if you want to see oil prices go even higher — be on the lookout for a forecast that sends Dean more towards the Gulf of Mexico than towards the Atlantic Coast. (Remember, all those oil rigs are out there in the Gulf — some of which never came back in service after the one-two punch of Katrina and Rita.)

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