When considering the chart for crude oil, there is really only one question to answer and it is simply this – how low can it go! And to answer that particular question we need to consider the charts across a variety of timeframes.
As speculative commodity traders, there are few occasions when it is hard not to make money, and certainly at present we have several stand out opportunities. These opportunities are rare, but when they occur, it’s time, as they say to ‘fill your boots’.
As we come towards the end of another trading month, crude oil price remain firmly rangebound as OPEC’s policy of taking on the alternative energy suppliers in a price war continues.
Mohit Jayachandran is breathing a sigh of relief. The 30-year-old engineer with Fluor Daniel, a multinational engineering and project management company in Gurgaon, near India’s capital New Delhi, says he will be having a decent end-of-year vacation this time, after a long year.
Last week was an interesting one for oil traders, with the rally of Monday promising much, only for this move to be snuffed out during the remainder of the week, as the WTI Light Sweet Crude (USO, quote) contract for January closed close to the open at $65.84 per barrel.
To say the last few days have been a roller coaster ride for commodities would be an understatement, with both oil and gold providing some sensational trading opportunities, but for very different reasons. For gold, it was the Swiss referendum over the weekend, and for oil, it was the OPEC meeting in Vienna.
Worries about the division between OPEC members remained a major driver of oil prices on Wednesday and drove Brent crude oil (BNO, quote) lower. The commodity traded at $78.73 at 8:45 GMT as investors kept an eye on the cartel’s debate over whether or not to cut supplies at next week’s meeting.
Brent crude (BNO, quote) oil began the week on a low note after GDP data helped confirm suspicions of a global slowdown. The commodity traded at $78.19 at 8:15 GMT, following surprising reports that Japan had fallen into a recession.
For oil traders and speculators hitting the sell button has become almost automatic, as the heavily bearish tone for the commodity shows no signs of abating just yet, with another solid move lower yesterday offering low risk trading opportunities once again.
It was a day of muted trading for oil yesterday, with both the US and Canada observing a public holiday in honor of their war veterans, and as a result the Wednesday oil inventories report is now scheduled for Thursday.
