2/12/2013 Update:

Monday’s Crude Pit Session:

High: 97.09

Low: 95.16

Close:  97.01

Looking ahead to today:

We saw crude oil prices catch an initial offer off opening bell with active dealer selling.  However, a series of early Geopolitical news releases including two separate explosions in Sierra and Istanbul combined with an announcement from the ECB stating that the Euro was not overvalued put upward pressure on crude as the dollar started showing weakness.  Additionally, we saw the Brent/WTI spread tighten by almost a 1.70 helping push crude to close and settle above the 97.00 handle.  This rise in prices continued throughout the overnight session making new highs at 97.45 as North Korea defied the world by conducting another underground nuclear test.   That said, we will need to keep a close eye on any Geopolitical news that could continue driving prices to the upside.  We also need to pay close attention to today’s API report due out later today as analysts are predicting a 2.35M rise in crude inventories ahead of tomorrow’s closely watched DOE report.   As today’s trading session unfolds keep in mind we are still trading in a 95.00 to 98.00 trading range and crude oil traders are looking for a close and settle below the 95.00 handle as an indication to get short and possibly take us down to the 86.00 area.  Conversely, the upside line in the sand that could push us into the 100-102 handles remains a close/settle above the 98.00-98.30 areas.  

Levels:

Support: 97.01, 96.42, 95.75, 95.16, 94.97, 94.49

Resistance:  97.45, 97.68, 98.00, 98.30, 100.28

  

Monday’s Natural Gas Pit Session:

High: 3.295

Low: 3.211

Close:  3.280

Looking ahead to today:

Mondays Natural Gas prices caught a slight offer at opening bell making lows at 3.211 the lowest since Jan 11th.  Before catching a relatively strong bid to the upside pairing some of its losses for the session.  We need to keep a close eye on the 3.200-3.050 area support levels, as a hold of these support levels could possibly push us back to the top of our range.  We also need to stay on top of this week’s latest weather forecasts as continuing cold weather reports may act as support in this market.

Levels:

Support: 3.295, 3.261, 3.228, 3.211, 3.207. 3.173

Resistance: 3.316, 3.327, 3.349, 3.400, 3.437

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