Category: Oil Markets

Yesterday saw the pull of continuing uncertainty over Europe’s maladies and improving US economic data. A pall was cast over the markets by news, early on, that German banks may have to withstand substantially larger losses on their Greek bond…

In what appears more and more like a counter trend rally, crude oil shrugged off the surprise 3.8 MM bbl build reported by API last night. In the final analysis, the market’s judgment has to be about demand, and there is precious little that is going to help that right now.… Read more

Crude oil certainly displayed some schizophrenic price action yesterday. After running up to post a new high off the recent low, prices gave back over $1.50 and finished the session below the day’s settlement price, in fact below the previous day’s settlement price, as well.… Read more

Crude oil is on the decline again today, as confidence wanes that a solution to the Europe’s financial debacle will be sufficient to revive their faltering economies.

Last Monday it was all doom and gloom as participants assumed Europe was headed to Armageddon. All it took apparently, was for “Mer-kozy” to acknowledge that their banks needed to be recapitalized for market participants to assume…

Crude oil rose further yesterday as market bulls took solace from a falling dollar which lost ground to the euro as it appeared that policymakers were moving closer to aid to the region’s troubled banks.

Yesterday’s surprise draw down of crude oil stocks certainly diverted focus from ongoing macroeconomic maladies. EIA reported a particularly large draw, in place of the build that was expected.

The dramatic reversal after the open-outcry session ended, certainly got participants attention. Unlike Friday and Monday when the market kept posting new lows right up to 5:00 o’clock, yesterday it was putting up fresh highs.

The Greek debacle is coming to a head. Greece’s admission in draft budget figures released on Sunday that it will miss its 2011 deficit target raised new doubts over a planned second international bailout.

Hardly surprising, with prices and open interest falling, that the Commitments report showed speculative interests reduced length, the second straight week they cut their exposures.