CRUDE, ULSD, and RBOB are all trending downwards today in tandem with the Stock Market, after a less-than-robust Jobs Report out this morning. The report showed that the US added 173,000 jobs in August, a relatively far cry from the 220,000 anticipated (hoped for?) by the markets and economists.
According to some analysts, since the official unemployment rate fell to 5.1%, the report is seen as potentially strong enough to push the Fed into following through with a September rate hike which accelerated sell offs. According to others, lackluster global economic signals are pushing the selling. I find the second assertion is more likely, but either way, the market looks poised to drop 3% on the week.
The past few weeks have seen wild volatility on Crude as well as the Stock Market. As the Wall Street Journal pointed out today - the close Tuesday marked 4 straight days of commodities trading with swings of at least 6% up or down in a row. For example, Monday for October closed up +.1101 on ULSD, and +.1020 on RBOB, then Tuesday more than erased those gains, closing out -.1233 on ULSD and -.1035 on gas.
With the production level battles still ongoing with OPEC between the so-called "Fragile Five" and the Saudi's which so far hasn't had any curbing impact on output, and a lack of any real bright spots in the global economy, it's more probable than not that we will continue to see serious volatility for the time being.
Stay tuned!
