Oil prices were mixed to lightly higher on Monday, and some observers feel that the market may have turned an important psychological corner, with oil prices holding relatively steady in the face of a stronger dollar and weaker equities. Those have been this market’s “trump suits” since March of 2009. And one of the other of the two has been behind the weakness in oil prices since the start of May. [More]

Oil prices were lower again on Friday, despite an unchanged euro market and a decent rally in equities. Although a substantial part of the rally came later in the day in equities, the DJIA still ended up 125.38 points, at 10,193.39. There was support just above the 10,000 level. Oil prices were lower less on equities on Friday than on fears of a weakening economy and on heavy supplies available in oil markets right now. [More]

Oil prices dropped steeply again on Thursday, as the entire asset structure came under selling pressure again. Traders were also talking about the abundance of crude oil in Cushing, Oklahoma, and about the influence that could be having on Thursday afternoon’s une crude oil contract expiration. As it worked out, June crude was slightly weaker than deferred months, but the expiration occurred within fairly normal parameters – if the recent weakness can be considered normal. [More]

There was follow-through selling in trading overnight on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Asian and European traders had gone to sleep on Tuesday night (their times) and the DJIA and oil futures had been higher. When they reawoke on Tuesday night and through Wednesday morning, they found that both markets had turned over and finished in negatives territory. That lent a certain downward momentum to asset markets this morning. [More]

Assets tried to rally early yesterday, and oil prices started out moving higher, following largely in the shadow of equities. The DJIA was up roughly 90 points at its high point on Tuesday, but it sold off through yesterday afternoon. By the final bell in stock trading, which is at 4 PM, the DJIA was down 114.88 to 10,510.95. [More]

Oil prices dropped to their lowest levels in 2010 on Monday, in a follow-through of the active selling we have seen since the start of the month (May). Equities were hammered in early trading, but they managed to claw their way back to unchaned and even into lightly positive territory by the final bell. The DJIA ended the day up 5.67 points. [More]

There was massive liquidation across a number of markets on Friday, and oil prices were caught up in the selling frenzy. Prices sold off through the morning, and by 1 PM, June crude oil prices were down $3.00 a barrel. At that same time, the DJIA was down 200-plus points and the euro was down significantly against the dollar, having lost 115 points by 1 PM. [More]

The expiring June crude oil contract pulled the entire oil complex lower on Thursday, as abundant supplies of crude oil over the near-term continued to weigh heavily on the complex. In the process of declining on Thursday, crude oil prices fell to their lowest levels in three months as June broke and settled below $74.50 a barrel. [More]

Crude oil prices dropped on Wednesday, with the front month falling to fresh lows against deferred contracts. Refined products fared better, and they finished in positive territory, as traders responded to this week’s DOE report. In the process of falling, the front-month June crude oil contract finished near a three-month low, and it ended within fairly easy striking distance of its now major support at $74.50. [More]

Tuesday was a very strange day in oil. Oil prices were higher in early trading, even with equities lower and the US dollar rallying. No one we spoke with could offer us anything as a decent reason for this advance other than it being as the result of a technical rally, with prices rallying after last week’s big decline. [More]