Oil closes near 2012 low today

By CHRIS KAHN
AP Energy Writer

(AP:NEW YORK) Oil prices dropped near their lows for the year following warnings of a "severe recession" in Europe and an apparent easing of tensions over Iran's nuclear program.

Benchmark U.S. crude on Tuesday lost 91 cents to end the day at $91.66 per barrel in New York while Brent crude fell by 40 cents to end at $108.41 per barrel in London. Both contracts hit a low for 2012 on Friday at $91.48 and $107.14, respectively.

Oil has declined almost every day this month as elections in Greece and France threatened existing plans to fix the Continue reading "Oil closes near 2012 low today"

Jobs report sends oil to biggest drop in 6 months

By JONATHAN FAHEY and CHRIS KAHN
AP Energy Writers

(AP:NEW YORK) The price of oil suffered its biggest one-day decline in nearly six months Friday, falling below $100 per barrel for the first time since February. A drop in gasoline prices can't be far behind.

It's a welcome trend for motorists, with the summer driving season just around the corner. And it eases some pressure on the U.S. economy, which has shown only agonizingly slow growth in the nearly three years since the Great Recession ended.

Oil fell $4.05, or 4 percent, to $98.49, after a weak U.S. jobs report offered the latest evidence that the global economy is weakening, possibly reducing demand for oil. At the same time, there is mounting evidence that world oil supplies are growing. Continue reading "Jobs report sends oil to biggest drop in 6 months"

Oil price falls on concerns about global economy

By CHRIS KAHN
AP Energy Writer

(AP:NEW YORK) Oil prices fell Wednesday on concerns of a weakening European economy and disappointing job growth in the U.S.

Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude gave up 86 cents to $105.30 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, which helps set the price of oil imported into the U.S., lost $1.35 to $118.31 per barrel in London.

Prices dropped after a survey showed that Europe's manufacturing industry is slowing down. Germany's unemployment figures also increased in April. That's happened only twice in more than two years. A separate report says U.S. businesses added 119,000 jobs in April, far lower than the 201,000 added in March. Continue reading "Oil price falls on concerns about global economy"

Chart of the week: Crude Oil

A new feature to the Trader’s Blog will be the addition of the Chart of the week. Each week Longleaftrading.com will be providing us a chart of the week as analyzed by a member of their team. We hope that you enjoy and learn from this new feature.

The June Crude Oil rallied every day last week. The market put in higher lows and higher highs on a daily basis after it tested the support trendline (#3 on the chart) last week on Monday morning. Any technical trader would say last week had all of the necessary ingredients for a bull run.

In today’s trade (Monday April 30th), the Crude Oil has been under pressure following unfavorable reports out of Spain and the United States coupled with profit taking ahead of a Labor Day Holiday in Europe and Asia.

The selloff seemed to be targeting the dominant trendline and the 20 day moving average (#1 on the chart) above the highs on the daily chart that kept Crude Oil in a downward channel until Thursday of last week when it closed above. This line was the dominant resistance for months, and may be the dominant support if the market can stay above in the near term. Continue reading "Chart of the week: Crude Oil"

So Long, US Dollar

By Marin Katusa, Casey Research

There's a major shift under way, one the US mainstream media has left largely untouched even though it will send the United States into an economic maelstrom and dramatically reduce the country's importance in the world: the demise of the US dollar as the world's reserve currency.

For decades the US dollar has been absolutely dominant in international trade, especially in the oil markets. This role has created immense demand for US dollars, and that international demand constitutes a huge part of the dollar's valuation. Not only did the global-currency role add massive value to the dollar, it also created an almost endless pool of demand for US Treasuries as countries around the world sought to maintain stores of petrodollars. The availability of all this credit, denominated in a dollar supported by nothing less than the entirety of global trade, enabled the American federal government to borrow without limit and spend with abandon. Continue reading "So Long, US Dollar"