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Written by Brad Zigler
Friday, 27 February 2009 12:43

Real-time Inflation Indicator (per annum): 7.5%

Did you see what happened yesterday? I mean with spot WTI and Brent crude. The premium that North Sea oil commanded over West Texas Tea evaporated. Brent, in fact, slipped to a slight discount.

Nearby April WTI futures, however, finished the day session at a $1.29 discount to its Brent analogue. If you looked a little bit further out on the delivery curve, though, you'd have found much narrower discounts for the May and June contracts. And, lo and behold, in the July delivery, WTI futures actually settled at an 8-cent premium over Brent.

So, what's going on?

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Written by Brad Zigler
Thursday, 26 February 2009 12:35

Real-time Inflation Indicator (per annum): 7.3%

There was a little drive-in joint in my hometown that used to drum up midweek business by advertising "Twofer Tuesdays." The cheapskates downtown loved the $1.49 hamburger-and-taco combo.

We're a couple of days beyond Tuesday, but you can still get a twofer. Better still, you won't have to trade kopeks for calories. Your twofer is free.

Item No. 1 - The GLD/GDX ratio has popped up in a reversal move over the past two trading sessions as gold prices tumbled. The SPDR Gold Shares Trust (NYSE Arca: GLD) is a grantor trust that holds bullion; the Market Vectors Gold ...

Written by Brad Zigler
Wednesday, 25 February 2009 11:57

Real-time Inflation Indicator (per annum): 7.5%

April crude oil was higher overnight due to continuing short covering. Prices moved steadily higher throughout the session, then eased off just ahead of the NYMEX floor opening and the release of the weekly Energy Department inventory report. Traders must have seen something the Oil Patch analysts couldn't.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration report revealed a 700,000 build in crude stocks despite a consensus forecast among analysts of a 200,000-barrel drawdown.

Calls for a steadying in refinery utilization among the sell-siders were also off base. Instead, EIA ...

Written by Brad Zigler
Monday, 23 February 2009 13:17

Real-time Inflation Indicator: 7.1%

There's cacophony in the oil market. That's nothing new, really. In the days when open outcry trading was king, the oil ring was often the noisiest quadrant of the trading floor. Much of today's dissonance rides on the back of electronic messaging: pundits' online remarks and computerized order flow.

Bulls on and off the floor point to signs of bottoming in the crude charts, arguing that the market's defending a WTI spot price in the mid-30s. That's certainly true. So far, at least.

Then there's futures' weakening momentum. Open interest has declined to its lowest level since September. ...