Commodities

April 08 2013 1:27 PM

The Nat Gas futures market is holding the gains from last Friday's rally and actually adding to them. The spot contract has been hovering either side of the new resistance area of $4.16/mmbtu with no decisive move much above it as of this writing. The cash market is following the futures contract with most cash prices higher so far today. The Georgia Power coal plant shut down has been the main catalyst for the rally since late Thursday evening. In fact even with an upside miss in last week's EIA inventory report the May futures contract was settling into a lower trading range until the coal shutdown hit the media airwaves. It was this event that quickly pushed prices back above the $4/mmbtu level with the market settling well above this resistance level on Friday.

April 08 2013 8:30 AM

Brent crude oil gained modestly on Monday, ticking up to $105.26 at 9:22 GMT. The commodity has been under pressure recently as slowing global growth and decreased demand has caused inventories to rise and put pressure on Brent prices. Data from the US showed that American employers fell short of expectations and added just 88,000 jobs rather than the anticipated 200,000. The figures confirmed that hiring rates were at their slowest pace in nine months and underscored worries that the number one oil consuming nation was still struggling to recover.

April 05 2013 9:02 AM

The risk off trading pattern has been the dominant pattern for most of the week (so far). Everything in the oil complex is lower for the week with WTI leading the way down resulting in a modest short covering based widening of the May Brent/WTI spread. The Brent/WTI spread is mostly driven by the potential for inventories to temporarily increase in Cushing as a result of the Pegasus pipeline shutdown. The macroeconomic data has been mostly negative this week with the main event… US nonfarm payroll data… set to hit the media airwaves at 8:30 AM EST today.

April 04 2013 9:07 AM

The first gas has started flowing from Israel's supergiant Tamar gasfield in the Levant Basin. Where it will go will redraw the Mediterranean energy map and the geopolitics that goes along with it. The Tamar field stakeholders announced on 30 March that the gas had started flowing, raising the value of Texas-based Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL), which holds a 36% stake, and Israel's two Delek Group subsidiaries, which each hold a 15.6% stake.

April 04 2013 8:34 AM

Brent crude oil tumbled on Wednesday after poor demand outlook and rising stockpiles put pressure on prices. The commodity steadied at $107.16 on Thursday morning at 11:00 GMT after falling more than three percent on Wednesday. Jobs data from the US that indicated the nation's recovery wasn't as strong as some had thought decreased the global demand outlook and sent Brent prices downward. The commodity plunged even further after reports showed that US oil inventories were at their highest level since 1990.

April 03 2013 9:11 AM

Commodity markets traded lower in early trade Wednesday following a new note from Credit Suisse highlighting that they expect weakness in commodity markets over the next few years. The analysts at Credit Suisse slashed their price targets for nearly every commodity for 2013 and 2014 on both lower demand forecasts but more so due to higher supply forecasts.

April 03 2013 8:29 AM

Brent Crude formed a bullish inverse head & shoulders as hoped & we made it all the way to our measured target of 111.20/50. We suggested to exit all longs here & try shorts with a stop above 111.95. The market has now topped at 111.79 so this has all worked perfectly for the second time.

April 02 2013 8:51 AM

A mixed performance in the oil complex to start the week with Brent, Gasoil and HO all adding value while WTI and RBOB declined on the day. Mixed economic data along with a mid-west to US Gulf Coast pipeline flow interruption were the main price drivers in a light activity session as Europe was still closed on Monday. Cyprus is still evolving while the latest PMI data out of the US disappointed and China's factory activity… although still growing… also disappointed compared to the market expectations. There is a full schedule of macroeconomic data this week culminating in the ever important US nonfarm payroll report on Friday.

April 01 2013 3:23 PM

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) has itself in another sticky situation: for the second time this month a ruptured pipeline has resulted in a significant spill. This time, damage wasn’t relegated to the wilderness, as crude oil was found flowing through the streets and pooling at the curbs of Mayflower, Arkansas.