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Mark Pszeniczny

Flash Crash, CRUDE, Jobs Report

Futures Tumble as length is shed with Jobs Data

As the saying goes " we buy in fear and sell in greed", today appears to be the perfect example of that old one.  Coming off the first three day sell off in over six months, the NYMEX was poised for a correction.  A new term put to the days action in the pits, a "flash crash" .  With all three major pits teetering on key support levels at the open, the technical sell off ensued as new unemployment figures were released that showed claims up by roughly 43k more than most estimates.  That, coupled with yesterdays slightly bearish inventory numbers, many sought to exit positions put on several weeks ago.  Again, it appears that we did find the event that would cause a correction, the key now is how much length is left and where will Bulls find a buying opportunity.  The last point to be made for a continued sell off will be to determine how demand will stand up with retail gasoline breaking $4.00 a gallon across most of the country.  From all indications, or today at least, demand destruction is weighing heavily on the minds of investors.  At the Close, Crude tumbled $9.40 to settle below $100 for the first time in weeks at $99.80.  RBOB lost a staggering .2271 to close at $3.0954 and HEAT led the charge with a whopping loss of .2561 to $2.8869. 

Mark Pszeniczny
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New Normal, Osama Bin Laden killed

Markets plummet early on hit of HVT #1

On a day that for most of us was 10 years in the making, the sight of pits being down almost 9 cents  early this morning was almost surreal.  Over the last few months we have talked about "risk" or "violence" premiums built into the market, but today it was all about the "fear" premium that was erased overnight.  However, the Market being what it is, found a way to battle back and even trade higher for much of the session.  Finally finishing lower on the day with Crude falling .41 to $113.52, HEAT losing .0237 to $3.2521 and RBOB lading the charge falling .0505 to $3.3479.  As many talked how the removal of Bin Laden from the scene was a major win and will have impacts in the future of the markets, others began to chat up the power vacuum that may occur inside Al-Quida.  Most Political figures stressed the importance of remaining vigilant in the fight on terror.  Some cities even issued new warnings. All of us can remember life and markets pre 9/11 and in this "New Normal" market, we have always said that there needs to be an event or catalyst to change sentiment and direction.  This is the biggest one we could have had. 

Mark Pszeniczny
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Bernanke, Dollar falls, FED rates

NYMEX futures end mixed as concerns loom

What is funny about Todays title is that it seems that I have used it several times over the last month!  Another Groundhog Day with the Market up strong on the overnight, falling into negative ground late in the day and ending as a mixed bag at the close.  Investors were eager to jump in overnight as many weighed the FED Chairman's comments and the reluctance to raise interest rates.  The decision to keep rates extremely low signals to investors that the US economy still has some hurdles to jump before we are all fat and happy again.  That policy is weighing heavy on the greenback, pushing it to a 33 month low.  We all know the corollary is the high Crude and product prices as inflationary hedges from investors.  The news the economy only grew 1.8% last quarter while most were expecting a 3.1% increase did little to ease rising NYMEX prices.  Yet around mid session a sell off materialized that had both products negative for some time.  HEAT was able finish in the red as it fell a mere 18pts to $3.2316, RBOB keeps pushing higher as it gained .0104 to $3.4298, while CRUDE gained .10 to $112.86.  With $28 crack spreads on gas, it is not hard to see how Exxon posted 69% Q1 profits.   While it is easy to point to middle eastern unrest as the cause of this surge, it is tough to defend as supplies in the US are still at very healthy levels.  End result is that this bubble has to burst.  Hopefully soon. 

Mark Pszeniczny
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Dollar falls, Jobs Report

Jobs data, Inventories and Dollar lead to mix day

Another mixed end to another volitile session that saw both RBOB and HEAT finish on opposite sides of par.  Solid early morning gains built on Wednesdays DOE report that had all products reporting substantial draws, much higher than expectations, eventually gave way to news of yet another dismal Job report.  The number of Jobless claims missed analysts expectations by about 10,000 claims that sent the pits down at the Opening Bell.   Heat and RBOB were down almost .04 each as Crude remained strong on a falling dollar.  The Dollar continues to  hover around a 2 1/2 year low.  While strife continues abroad, the threat of barrels off the market appears to be taking a back seat.  The Saudi cartel have stated that there is no need for excess production as buyers appear to be limited.  As we mentioned, the volitility from day to day has remained with a downward bias.  The hope amongst peers is that at somepoint it falls off the shelf.  As a reminder, the NYMEX is closed Friday in observance of Good Friday.  At the Close Crude added 81 cents to $112.29, RBOB jumped .0313 to $3.3086 and HEAT fell .0222 to $3.1992.

Mark Pszeniczny
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Gasoline demand drop, DOE, S&P Downgrade

Futures End Down after Wild Session

NYMEX futures struggled to put together consecutive down days, and similar to the Bruins last night, it was a little tense right up to the end.  Futures opened down over 3 cents in both Pits and fell to as much as over five cents down before clawing all the way back, and actually trading positive briefly with about 40 minutes left in the day.  The days fall can be attributed to yesterdays news of Standard & Poors issuing a negative long term credit rating for the United States.  Highlighting that report was concern over the future of Commodity pricing and its effect on consumers.  Yet many are pointing to signals within the economy that could lead one to believe that we are well into a recovery.  Lets face it, last weeks DOE numbers were an aboration of refinery turns.  And as the pits turned stronger today, it centered around reports that gasoline demand jumped over 3% last week.  But that report is by spendingpulse.  Spendingpulse is a yardstick for usage of credit card customers.  Americans generally charge gasoline as a last resort to cash or debit. Thus the sell off continued.  At the close, front month Crude rose $1.03 on the expiry to $108.15. RBOB fel .0197 to $3.2331 and HEAT fell .0243 to $3.1585.  Keep in mind, we have not seen three consecutive down days since early FEB, and previously in early DEC.

Mark Pszeniczny
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HEAT, government shutdown, Libya, Market analysis

Market Finally Falls after Calm Weekend

Futures tumbled today after seeing double digit increases in the HEAT pit on Friday as fear of prolonged unrest overseas and the possibilty of a Governmental shut down loomed.  At the eleventh hour a deal was struck to keep the U.S. Government running with both sides claiming victory.  New reports this morning had Libya tension cooling as a proposed peace deal is on the table.  The problem is, the deal calls for Gadhafi to remain in power.  As one would expect, the deal has been accepted by the current regime but rejected by rebel forces.  It was somewhat relieving to see our first down day in the last nine sessions.  We are all looking for a healthy correction of the speculative buying that has pushed HEAT higher by almost 20 cents in the last 10 days.  With warm air finally making its way into the Northeast, we should see some length get pulled out of the HEAT pit.  At the Close, CRUDE fell $2.87 to $109.92, RBOB lost .0602 to $3.2005 and HEAT tumbled .0672 to $3.2525.  As we have said many times, one day does not make a trend, but it would be nice if this was the start. 

Mark Pszeniczny
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Libya, Bull Market, Daily Heating Chart, CRUDE

Bulls remain in control ahead of Inventory Data

What appeared to be a solid retreat this morning turned into another solid up day for the NYMEX.  The early morning session had both pits down over two cents in electronic trading as word of a Chinese rate hike hit the wires and a possible slow down in demand for the worlds second largest consumers.  Additionally minutes from last month FED Reserve meeting realeased today noted several members voicing concern over the rapidly rising energy costs and the effects that would have on the growth pattern of the country.  But by mid morning, sentiment had changed with news once again surfacing that the oil port town of Brega in Libya was back in control of loyalist forces.  Intensified fighting between France and Ivory Coast over the areas rightful President also pushed prices higher as the growing fear of worldly strife has many investors searching for the one investment that is insulated.  At the close, Crude actually fell .13 to $108.34 while RBOB jumped another .0325 to $3.2013 and HEAT topped out at $3.1850 up .0136.
Mark Pszeniczny
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Libya, Daily Heating Chart, Jobs Report

NYMEX rises on jobs and overseas risk

RBOB spent much of the day bouncing back and forth from positive to negative before finally ending stronger.   Heating Oil never broke negative but did tease with it about mid day.  Depending upon which news wire you read, Libyan rebelshave either lost control of a major oil port city or regained full control.  The lack of credible reports coming from the crisis is playing into the risk premium.   New data was released this morning that shouwed the economy grew by 3.1% in Q4, slightly above the expected 3.0%.  Also psuhing values higer was data showing the economy created an addtional 31k jobs in the last month.  How much of that is seasonal workers is yet to be determined.  The rosey view and geopolitical risk that continues to spread over northern Africa and the Mid East has pushed HO above the $3.14 level, closing up .0369 to $3.1714.  RBOB moved higher by .0175 to close at $3.1688.  Crude reached an 18 month high before closing up .53 to $108.47.  We had said that the market appears to fade after HEAT touched $3.14, the breakthrough of that resistance level today lends to higher prices in the future. 

Mark Pszeniczny
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HEAT, Libya, CRUDE, RBOB, Ghaddafi

Markets find strength ahead of Spring storm

With what appears to be a cruel joke by Mother Nature, sending us another 6 to 12 inches of snow for Friday, markets got the fuel they needed to push higher today.  While the winter weather may be a simple coincidence, the real driver today appears to the ongoing unrest in Libya.  After the President adressed the Nation Monday night, and all but assured us that NATO forces would take command and ground troops would not be committed, that plan is begining to look suspect.  Over the last few days, Rebel forces have made little if any ground against the Gaddafi regime.  Their reliance upon US and NATO air strikes to make any advances has put their chances of an overthrow in jeapordy.  This, even on the heels of a long time supporter of Gaddafi defecting.  Overnight the Lybian Foriegn Minister sought refuge, signaling to the West that the power appears to be fracturing.  However, with the President authorizing use of covert operations, many point to this as the first step in a drawn out conflict.  With Lybian product shut in, and Japaneese demand expected to pick up, we cant be all that surprised to see the bumps.  The key will be in how long it will take for the jump to be peeled off.  Speculative money appears in control for the time being and the slight drop in jobless claims is not facilitating a sell off by any means.  At the close, Crude rose $2.45 to $106.72, RBOB jumped .0436 to $$3.1076 and HEAT led the charge adding .0502 to $3.0898.
Mark Pszeniczny
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