Crude Awakening
A poor weekly showing in the American Petroleum Institute
(API) report on stockpiles spooked traders holding short energy positions and
fueled a rally that left crude and heating oil more than 4.2% higher.
The trade paid particularly close attention to this
week’s data. Last week’s API data was thought to be an aberration but
yesterday’s report spotlighted that crude inventory now stands at 24-year
low. The lower-than-expected report Tuesday after the bell acted to confirm that
energies are being drawn faster than they are being replaced amid high demand.
If stockpiles do not show a build-up by September, shortages could emerge this winter,
particularly in distillates (heating
oil)used in warming Northeast homes.
September crude oil
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heating oil
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unleaded gasoline
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Natural gas, from the Momentum-5
List, rallied for a seventh straight day, but fell after tagging the
September contract’s "shooting star" candlestick bar closing record at
the high (4.565). NGU0 still managed a gain after the early rally, ending .016
higher at 4.425. Nat gas is extremely sensitive to supply disruptions caused by
potential rig evacuations in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf is one of the
principal producing regions for US natural gas.
Despite a positive bias provided by Cisco’s
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strong earnings going into Wednesday’s opening, stock index futures ended in
negative territory. Cisco reported earnings of 11 cents a share in its
last financial quarter, up from 8
cents a year ago. Excluding one-time charges, the networking giant earned 16
cents, a penny above estimates, according to First Call/Thomson Financial. Sales
surged 61% to $5.7 billion with sales of equipment that handles Internet traffic coming in
particularly robust. NASDAQ 100 futures
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3697.00, tumbling late in the session after breaking below opening levels.
Dow futures
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after retail king opened (delayed). Wal-Mart said that it expected sales to slow in the
third quarter from $46.1 billion, its most recent quarterly figure. Dow
futures also signaled they could sell off after running up by registering and
making good on a Turtle Soup Plus One
Sell set up.
After an exceptionally volatile month in July that
resulted in 25% swings, coffee continued and hit new contract and multi-year lows. The recent volatility has hiked the contract’s 100-day
volatility average and several days of narrow-range trading has brought the
contract onto the
Multiple Days Low
Volatility List. Coffee also posted on the
New 10-Day Low List and lower highs have set the contract up in a descending
triangle pattern. September closed 4.20 lower at 79.50.
December cotton
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PowerRating), a new entry on the Momentum-5
List, hit a new two-month high and kept rallying for a gain of 1.80 on the
day to 64.50.