Crude had a solid technical close over the 45.30 recent high and should get legs to it for a fairly quick retest of the $50 resistance level. The biggest problem with crude right now is the ultra tight correlation with equity markets.
What has peaked my interest the most in crude is the steep discount the WTI, (which is the NYMEX contract), is trading to heavier and more sour grades. There has been a discount to traditional grade spreads for a little while, but I think that is about to revert as our weekly imports are falling and gasoline demand is actually moving up.
Also of note is Cushing has had a slight draw for the last 3 weeks, although still basically full, can likely draw down lower against our weaker imports. I believe this is one reason you have tightened the contango spreads recently as well.
I am not ready to go out on a limb yet and say we are about to get a much larger rally, but I do think a correction of the grade spreads alone will cause the NYMEX to rally higher in the near term. The correlation trade is what can still piss on this fire though, so if equities melt down again, all bets are off.
What has peaked my interest the most in crude is the steep discount the WTI, (which is the NYMEX contract), is trading to heavier and more sour grades. There has been a discount to traditional grade spreads for a little while, but I think that is about to revert as our weekly imports are falling and gasoline demand is actually moving up.
Also of note is Cushing has had a slight draw for the last 3 weeks, although still basically full, can likely draw down lower against our weaker imports. I believe this is one reason you have tightened the contango spreads recently as well.
I am not ready to go out on a limb yet and say we are about to get a much larger rally, but I do think a correction of the grade spreads alone will cause the NYMEX to rally higher in the near term. The correlation trade is what can still piss on this fire though, so if equities melt down again, all bets are off.