Battle Cry
Energy contracts rallied
for a second session on accusations strikingly similar to those leveled against
Kuwait prior to the start of the Persian Gulf war more than 10 years ago. Iraq
said Kuwait is "stealing" as much as 300,000 barrels per day from oil
reserves near a common border. Kuwait said it would allow a neutral
international body to come to examine Iraq’s accusations. Iraq flew airplanes
over the common border in violation of its UN-imposed southern no fly-zone last
Friday. US Defense Secretary Cohen said the US would "defeat" Iraq if
it attacks Kuwait.
November crude oil
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PowerRating) gapped open and rallied
out of a (Cooper) 1-2-3-4 Pullback
Off Highs setup to a new contract high to close up .83 at 35.55. October oil
rose to $37.15 before settling at 36.88. Tensions
in the Middle East are also running high following attacks on Baghdad.
Iraq says Iran fired missiles on the capital city, heightening tensions in the
region.
T-bond futures fell sharply for a third day, as the market worries that
higher oil prices could translate into inflation. Dec. T-bonds
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PowerRating), from
the
Implosion-5 List,
lost 14/32 to close at 97 28/32. Meanwhile, the yield curve continued to
normalize (de-invert) as traders bought shorter-termed
futures products. Two-year notes
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high.
Stock index futures faltered. S&P futures
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Implosion-5 List and
Multiple Days Low
Volatility readings by closing down 16.20 at 1465.00. The S&Ps attempted
to take out the 1847.50 high of the opening range–a level which also
corresponded with the last hour of Friday’s high, but failed to do so by more
than 2.1 handles, resulting in a long slide throughout the session.
Qualcomm
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(following an upgrade) and the decidedly negative tone translated into a limit
down move, which halted trading for 10 minutes.
NASDAQ 100 futures
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close 61.00 lower at 3657.50.
Dow futures
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blue chip futures on views that oil-inflation would hurt financials.
December dollar index futures
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List, inched a new contract high after the European Central Bank’s
recent intervention failed to support the fledgling euro.
Euro FX
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ECZ0 |
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PowerRating) futures slipped .00180 to .85660 and Swiss francs
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closed flat at .5652.
In metals,
December gold
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but gave it all back to close at its lowest level in a year for a .9 loss at
274.9. Gold’s Implosion-5,
New 10-Day Low, and Multiple Days Low
Volatility readings, as well Monday’s weak showing, make this contract a
good downside candidate.
This Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
releases monthly cold storage figures and the numbers are expected show a record
supply of frozen pork bellies. Still January pork bellies
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PowerRating) fell just
.100 to 63.175. Also in livestock,
October feeders
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PowerRating) followed through after
posting
New 10-Day Highs and closed up .150 and .175, respectively.