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The BP Macondo Well has been officially declared dead over the weekend. The Financial Times says that US authorities pronounced BP’s blown out Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico “effectively dead” on Sunday, 152 days after the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that caused the world’s largest accidental offshore. The announcement ends the 5m barrel leak, which sparked fury among the US public and politicians, but may eventually be seen to have had only a marginal effect on the global oil industry.” Marginal?
BP opponents of drilling will a rallying point. Yet at the same time the industry has learned a lot and will be better prepared to respond to this type of disaster in the future. So there will be some bad and good that will come from this disaster. Oil is rallying a bit on a weak dollar. Of course the main factor for oil and most other markets will be the impact from this week’s FOMC meeting. If I have said it once I think I have said it a thousand times that the Fed is one of the major driver of oil prices as well as other commodities.....Read the entire article.
I think it’s safe to say that everyone knows the markets are manipulated… but during options expiry week we tend to see prices move beyond key resistance and support levels during times of light volume which triggers/shakes traders out of their positions.
Trading during low volume sessions Pre/Post holidays for swing traders or between 11:30am – 3:00pm ET for day traders tends have increased volatility and false breakouts. This happens because the market markets for individual stocks can slowly walk the prices up and down beyond short term support and resistance levels simply because there is a lack of participation in the market.
SP500 4 Hour Candlestick Chart
That being said, the chart below of the SPY (SP500 ETF) shows that last Thursday, (the day before Friday options expiry) the put call ratio was showing extreme bullishness. I also mentioned that we should expect a pop of 0.5 -2% in the next 24 hours as big guys will try to shake everyone out of their short positions (put options).
The put/call ratio indicator at the bottom of this chart is a contrarian indicator. When it shows that everyone has jumped to the bullish side, the big money knows its about time to change the direction so they can cash in at premium price levels.
SP500 60 Minute OptionsX Chart of the Week
If you look at the volume at the bottom of the chart you will see there are times where this virtually zero volume trades. The yellow high lighted section shows the overnight price surge which is very easy for the big guys to push higher as everyone sleeps.
Here is what they are doing. The light volume makes it easy to manipulate so they push it higher until key resistance is broken, then everyone who was short and had a protective stop in place will have their order executed. As the price rises, more and more stops get triggered. Also, with the rising number of traders becoming bullish from the previous session have buy orders to go long if key resistance is broken. This causes a virtually automated rally to unfold, but once the orders/buying dries up, the big guys start selling their positions at premium prices, pushing the price all the way back down to where the market closed the previous day.
In short, the big guys shook the majority of traders out of their positions Thursday night and pocketed a ridiculous amount of money. Crazy part is 99% of the public don’t even know this type of thing is happening while they sleep.
SP500 OptionsX Intraday Price Action
I thought I would show this chart as it shows the selling pressure in the market. What I find interesting about this chart is the fact there was more selling volume during options expiry week, but the prices continued to move higher.
From watching the market internals I saw the majority of traders go from bearish to bullish by the end of the week, and this really gave the big guys a huge advantage in my opinion. Each session selling volume took control with the big guys unloading bu the low volume afternoons naturally brought prices up again as more and more traders became bullish each session. This happened all week and Thursday night it looks as though they let the price rise allowing the key resistance level to be broken which caused a surge of buying which they could selling into. So what’s next…
SP500 / Broad Market Trading Conclusion:
In short, the market looks toppy and if all goes well, last weeks overnight shakeout just may have been a top. This week will start off slow and most likely with light volume until Wednesday. During light volume times, keep trading positions smaller than normal and remember there is a neutral/upward bias associated with light volume.
You can get my ETF and Commodity Trading Signals if you become a subscriber of my newsletter. These free reports will continue to come on a weekly basis; however, instead of covering 2-4 investments at a time, I’ll only be covering only one. Newsletter subscribers will be getting more analysis that’s actionable. I’ve also decided to add video analysis per customer’s request, and I’ll be covering more of the market to include currencies, bonds and sectors. Before everyone’s emails were answered personally, but now my focus is on building a strong group of newsletter traders and they will receive direct personal responses regarding trade ideas and analysis going forward. Let the volatility and volume return!
Chris Vermeulen
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Crude oil was slightly higher due to short covering overnight as it consolidates some of last week's decline. Stochastics and the RSI remain bearish signaling that sideways to lower prices are possible near term.
If October extends last week's decline, the reaction low crossing at 71.53 is the next downside target. Closes above the 10 day moving average crossing at 75.15 would confirm that a short term low has been posted.
First resistance is the 20 day moving average crossing at 74.37
Second resistance is the 10 day moving average crossing at 75.15
First support is last Friday's decline crossing at 72.75
Second support is the reaction low crossing at 71.53
Crude oil traded near its lowest in almost three weeks after falling amid speculation the U.S. economic recovery is slowing, reducing fuel use in the world’s biggest crude consumer. Futures dropped 1.2 percent on Sept. 17 after the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary September index of consumer sentiment declined to 66.6 from 68.9 a month earlier. Prices also decreased after the American Petroleum Institute said U.S. gasoline consumption in August averaged 9.23 million barrels a day, down from 9.3 million in August 2009.
The October contract traded at $73.70 a barrel, up 2 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 8:30 a.m. Sydney time. It lost 91 cents to $73.66 on Sept. 17, the lowest settlement since Aug. 31. Prices are down 7 percent this year. Oil also dropped after the dollar gained against the euro, reducing the appeal of commodities as an alternative investment. The U.S. currency traded at $1.3044 a euro after rising 0.2 percent on Sept. 17.
Brent crude oil for November settlement traded at $78.22 a barrel, up 1 cent, on the London based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It fell 27 cents, or 0.3 percent, to settle at $78.21 on Sept. 17.
Reporter Ben Sharples can be reached at bsharples@bloomberg.net
Crude oil edged high to 78.04 last week but was limited below mentioned 61.8% retracement of 82.97 to 70.76 at 78.31 and reversed. The break of 73.88 minor support indicates that whole recovery from 70.76 is likely completed. Initial bias is mildly on the downside this week for a retest on 70.76 support first. Sustained trading below 70.76/71.09 support zone will confirm our bearish view that whole rebound from 64.23 is finished at 82.97 already and target another low below 64.23. On the upside, above 75.25 minor resistance will turn intraday bias neutral and bring recovery. But we'll stay bearish as long as 78.31 fibo resistance holds.
In the bigger picture, choppy rebound from 64.23 is treated as a correction to fall from 87.15 only and has possibly finished at 82.97 already. Decisive break of 71.09 will confirm this bearish case and also indicate that whole fall from 87.15 is resuming for 60 psychological level, (50% retracement of 33.2 to 87.15 at 60.18, 100% projection of 87.15 to 64.23 from 82.97 at 60.05). Decisive break there will indicate that fall from 87.15 is developing into a powerful impulsive wave and would target 33.2 low. On the upside, break of 82.97 resistance is needed to invalidate this view. Otherwise, we'll stay bearish in crude oil.
In the long term picture, current development suggests that rebound from 33.2 is finished at 87.15, inside 76.77/90.24 fibo resistance zone as expected. Our view is that fall from 87.15 would develop into the third falling leg of the whole correction from 147.27 and hence, we'd anticipate an eventual break of 33.2 low in the long term as such correction extends.
Comedian George Gobel once asked, "Did you ever get the feeling that the world was a tuxedo and you were a pair of brown shoes?" Energy traders right now probably know exactly what he means. Are you not feeling a little left out of all the commodity excitement and feel like you are on the outside looking in? While oil prices fail at another attempt to take out $80 a barrel this week and stumbled back down into the mid seventies, it seems the rest of the commodity world has gone parabolic. I mean look at all the markets that have gone dong gone wild! Gold overnight hit another all time nominal high! Silver hit the highest level since the Hunt boys diversified from tomatoes or is it tomatoes to silver.
Sugar seems to be targeting doubling its price from the low it made last May. Corn is back above $5.00 a bushel as it appears that the crop and some of the ears are more than a few kernels short of the cob. Coffee has been percolating and is surging as Arabica supplies are tight and there are worries about the current crop. Yet petroleum these days have been very rangy. For oil it is hard to get over the hump when the demand outlook is sketchy and the supply is mounting. Oh sure, you can speculate that supply will tighten dramatically in the future.....Read the entire article.
Crude oil fell for a fourth day on speculation that the U.S. economic recovery is slowing, reducing fuel demand in the world’s biggest oil consuming country. Oil slipped as much as 1.2 percent after the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary September index of consumer sentiment fell to 66.6 from 68.9 a month earlier. Enbridge Energy Partners LP obtained government approval to resume sending Canadian oil to refineries in the Midwest on Line 6A. The system will begin operating today, the company said.
“The market really started to tank once the consumer confidence numbers came out,” said Kyle Cooper, a managing director at energy consultant IAF Advisors in Houston. “The economy is the driver of this market right now.” Crude oil for October delivery declined 67 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $73.90 a barrel at 10:15 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude oil for November settlement fell 36 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $78.12 a barrel on the London based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
Oil futures topped $78 a barrel this week following the closure on Sept. 9 of Enbridge’s 466-mile Line 6A. The pipe spilled about 6,100 barrels of oil from a section in Romeoville, Illinois, about 30 miles southwest of Chicago. The 34-inch line runs from Superior, Wisconsin, to Griffith, Indiana, and can carry 670,000 barrels a day of crude, equal to more than one- third of Midwest imports. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a report today that the pipeline’s closure will keep U.S. crude oil imports at reduced levels in coming weeks.
Lower Inventories
“As the tide turns, we will see lower inventories and shifting sentiment send WTI crude oil prices into a $85-$95 per barrel trading range in coming months,” Goldman said in the report.
“The oil price will remain stuck in a $70 to $80 range,” said Tobias Merath, head of commodity research at Credit Suisse Group AG in Zurich. “At first it looked like the Enbridge repairs would take a long time. Now it seems it will go fairly fast. Markets are very well-supplied and U.S. demand is lackluster.”
Bloomberg reporter Mark Shenk can be reached at mshenk1@bloomberg.net
Crude oil was higher overnight as it consolidates some of this week's decline. Stochastics and the RSI have turned bearish signaling that sideways to lower prices are possible near term.
Closes below the 20 day moving average crossing at 74.43 would confirm that a short term top has been posted. If October renews the rally off August's low, the 62% retracement level of the decline off August's high crossing at 78.58 is the next upside target.
First resistance is Monday's high crossing at 77.50
Second resistance is the 62% retracement level off August's high crossing at 78.58
Crude oil pivot point for Friday morning is 74.89
First support is the 20 day moving average crossing at 74.43
Second support is the reaction low crossing at 72.63
We are at the tail of another light volume choppy options expiry week and a big move is brewing… So I thought I would do a mid-week update on what I think is about to unfold in the coming days.
First off I will touch on gold. Everyone is in love with this shiny metal. But as I mentioned last week I think we are nearing a sharp correction. Previously I pointed out that we needed gold to make a new high to the $1275- 1285 area before everyone piles in and gets married to it, only then will the market reverse… Remember the market is out to take money from the masses and the gold trade is getting a little crowded in my opinion.
There are fundamentals which can be taken into account… but when has any investment moved perfectly inline with the underlying fundamentals? I’ve seen investments lead fundamentals by years, and other times lag the fundamentals by years, not to mention manipulation… but that’s a whole different subject. That being said I don’t hold gold long term for the simple reason I don’t believe much in the buy and hold strategy, nor do I like to watch investments go much more than a few percent against me… I would rather sit in cash jumping in and out when things look ripe for the picking. OK let’s jump into the analysis....
Gold Futures Price – Daily Chart
As you can see gold is forming another rising bearish wedge. The last one lead to a $100 drop in gold earlier this year. The part that I find exciting is that this recent run up has been on relatively light volume and without any decent pullbacks along the way. What does that mean? It means fewer people are willing to pay top dollar for it and the big money is riding this train up until they feel its getting exhausted then they will start unloading large amounts at a premium. We also just saw another new high on Thursday which happened on light volume tells me this rally just may have the herd all rounded up before the slaughter.
Silver Futures Price – 15 Minute Intraday Chart
While I don’t trade silver as much as gold due to the added volatility/whipsaw action, this intraday chart is starting to show signs of weakness with a rising bearish wedge today. This is just an intraday chart but these short term patterns tend to lead the longer term charts pointing out exhaustion is starting to creep into the market. Both gold and silver could still have a blow off top and shot up, which is why I have been saying to stay long metals (if you have a position) and to keep raising stop as it could continue higher for some time if a new wave of buyers step in.
Crude Oil – 4 Hour Chart
Oil has been choppy recently making it difficult to get a good read off the chart. Currently it is testing support and looks to be forming a possible right shoulder. It could have some good potential to the down side if we get a neckline break. I’m keeping my eye on it for another low risk entry point.
SP500 ETF – Daily Chart
This chart clearly shows some extreme bullish sentiment levels in the market. The bottom indicator is the total put/call ratio and when it is below 0.80 in an environment like this, it means there are too many people bullish on the market. So with today's spike low its easy to tell that the majority of traders/investors are bullish as they buy all the call options they can.
That being said, we generally get a serious shake out before the market reverses. What I mean by that, we should see the market gap substantially higher or spike up intraday as key resistance is broken. This forces all the shorts to cover their positions just before the market rolls over and sells back down. That’s what I am looking for to take action.
Mid-Week Trading Conclusion:
In short, gold and silver are looking and feeling toppy here. While I am bullish on them long term, we could see sharp pullback which could take months to regain these prices. I am not short metals yet but very close to taking a short counter trend trade.
Oil continues to looks bearish but is taking a long time to play out. This is a 4 hour chart and if we do get this neckline breakdown, it would still take 1-2 months to pay off. That being said, it looks like it will go lower.
SP500, I think the chart gets the point across. The important part to know is that it should go another 0.5% – 2% higher before it goes lower as that would make for a perfect pop & drop reversal pattern which I will alert members to when the time comes to short.
You can get my ETF and Commodity Trading Signals if you become a subscriber of my newsletter. These free reports will continue to come on a weekly basis; however, instead of covering 2-4 investments at a time, I’ll be covering only 1. Newsletter subscribers will be getting more analysis that’s actionable. I’ve also decided to add video analysis per customer’s request, and I’ll be covering more of the market to include currencies, bonds and sectors. Before everyone’s emails were answered personally, but now my focus is on building a strong group of traders and they will receive direct personal responses regarding trade ideas and analysis going forward.
Some of Pennsylvania's natural gas pipelines are 120 years old. Portions of lines also date to the 1800s in Massachusetts. And hundreds of miles in New York state are made of leak prone cast iron. Tens of thousands of miles of pipelines that run beneath communities nationwide are old or decaying, and an Associated Press survey found that no states in the parts of the country with the greatest concentration of people and pipes have ordered a safety review in the week since a deadly explosion in California raised public awareness of potential problems.
Officials from Massachusetts to Texas say their inspections are adequate, and they are waiting for federal investigators to determine the cause of the Sept. 9 gas line explosion that killed four in San Bruno, Calif., before deciding what to do. Consumer advocates and plaintiffs' lawyers say the response fits a familiar pattern: Utilities and customers won't pay the millions of dollars needed to replace corroded pipes, the lines fail and regulators act only after a disaster.
Massachusetts is ahead of most states, in part because it reviewed its system after several natural gas explosions during the winter of 2008-09. About one third of the state's 21,000 miles of distribution lines are cast iron or bare steel. The cast iron pipes were laid from the late 1800s to the 1940s and the bare steel between the 1930s to the 1960s. Other states, however, are not acting as swiftly.....Read the entire article.
