Valero's going higher. I won't guarantee it, but the facts sure seem to support it.
The crack spread is what I'll be watching to try and determine when VLO has topped. I think it goes to $70+, which would match TSO breaking through its 52 week high (which it already did).
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=avyc7HVj96RA&refer=home
Gasoline Demand
Demand, which peaks between the Memorial Day holiday in late May and Labor Day in early September, was 2.1 percent higher than a year earlier in the four weeks ended March 16, the department said last week.
Fuel demand will push oil higher in coming weeks unless there is a significant increase in U.S. stockpiles, Altavest's Hartmann said. Doubts about the strength of the U.S. economy may not be enough to slow oil's climb toward $67 a barrel.
``It's hard to know whether or not these high prices have done that much damage to the economy,'' he said. ``We're really seeing that gasoline is an inelastic commodity'' for most Americans.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped for the first time in six days yesterday after a Commerce Department report showed U.S. new home sales unexpectedly fell to the lowest level in almost seven years last month.
Gasoline, Refining
Gasoline for April delivery was at $2.0617 a gallon after rising 3.5 percent to $2.0677 yesterday, the highest close since Aug. 15 and the biggest one-day gain since Feb. 13. The more actively traded May contract was at $2.01 after rising 3.4 percent to $2.0152 yesterday.
The jump in the premium for the April contract may reflect high prices in the physical gasoline market, Hartmann said.
Prices have surged the past two months as demand rose and fires and break-downs slowed refiners' efforts to make fuel for the summer.
The California Energy Commission asked Valero Energy Corp. to delay maintenance at its Wilmington refinery after processing rates in the state fell to the lowest since 1999, Commission spokeswoman Claudia Chandler said yesterday.
The average U.S. pump price of regular gasoline rose 3.3 cents to $2.61 a gallon in the week that ended yesterday, the highest since Sept. 11, according to a U.S. Energy Department report yesterday.
The crack spread is what I'll be watching to try and determine when VLO has topped. I think it goes to $70+, which would match TSO breaking through its 52 week high (which it already did).
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=avyc7HVj96RA&refer=home
Gasoline Demand
Demand, which peaks between the Memorial Day holiday in late May and Labor Day in early September, was 2.1 percent higher than a year earlier in the four weeks ended March 16, the department said last week.
Fuel demand will push oil higher in coming weeks unless there is a significant increase in U.S. stockpiles, Altavest's Hartmann said. Doubts about the strength of the U.S. economy may not be enough to slow oil's climb toward $67 a barrel.
``It's hard to know whether or not these high prices have done that much damage to the economy,'' he said. ``We're really seeing that gasoline is an inelastic commodity'' for most Americans.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped for the first time in six days yesterday after a Commerce Department report showed U.S. new home sales unexpectedly fell to the lowest level in almost seven years last month.
Gasoline, Refining
Gasoline for April delivery was at $2.0617 a gallon after rising 3.5 percent to $2.0677 yesterday, the highest close since Aug. 15 and the biggest one-day gain since Feb. 13. The more actively traded May contract was at $2.01 after rising 3.4 percent to $2.0152 yesterday.
The jump in the premium for the April contract may reflect high prices in the physical gasoline market, Hartmann said.
Prices have surged the past two months as demand rose and fires and break-downs slowed refiners' efforts to make fuel for the summer.
The California Energy Commission asked Valero Energy Corp. to delay maintenance at its Wilmington refinery after processing rates in the state fell to the lowest since 1999, Commission spokeswoman Claudia Chandler said yesterday.
The average U.S. pump price of regular gasoline rose 3.3 cents to $2.61 a gallon in the week that ended yesterday, the highest since Sept. 11, according to a U.S. Energy Department report yesterday.
