http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Oil-prices-hover-around-49-apf-14928173.html On Tuesday, the Commerce Department said retail sales fell 1.1 percent in March, far worse than the slight increase that analysts expected and marking the biggest fall in three months. Businesses also reported they slashed inventories for a sixth straight month in February. "By no means are we out of the woods just yet," President Barrack Obama said Tuesday. "Demand will have to come back before you see the oil price move up from $50 in a sustained way," said Ben Westmore, energy analyst with National Australia Bank in Melbourne. "We haven't seen any signal that oil demand is turning, and things like falling retail sales in the U.S. contribute to that view." Traders also are focused on weekly petroleum inventory data that the Energy Information Agency will release Wednesday. Analysts expect a build of 2.5 million barrels in crude stocks, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. Crude stocks already are at 16-year highs. "Even when demand does kick back in, there will be a supply response that's easily available to cushion the price for some time," Westmore said. OPEC production cuts have helped bolster prices. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which next meets on May 28, has announced 4.2 million barrels a day of output quota reductions since September. "It looks like OPEC is making a concerted effort to try to stick to those production quotas," Westmore said. "If prices decline a little, I would expect another output cut at the next meeting."
Crude Climbs On Nigeria News, Waits On Data Dow Jones Newswires From Market Talk: 0952 GMT [Dow Jones] Crude oil futures trade higher with reports of force majeure at Shell's Nigerian Bonny Light field helping support prices Wednesday. Traders also adjusting positions waiting for weekly U.S. EIA inventory data due 1430GMT Wednesday, amid expectations that U.S. crude inventories will have built even further last week. API data out Tuesday revealed 6.5m bbl build in crude, outpacing average of DJN survey of analysts' 2.1m bbl build.
The EIA, in its Weekly Petroleum Status Report due at 1430 GMT, is expected to report a further increase in U.S. crude stockpiles and only modest declines in products, potentially a sign of demand staying weak. Commercially held crude inventories are expected to have risen 2.1 million barrels in the week to April 10, according to the average prediction of 14 analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires. Stocks have already climbed to 361.1 million barrels, a sizable 12.5% over the five-year average level. Gasoline stockpiles may have slipped by 500,000 barrels on week and distillate, which includes heating oil and diesel, by 700,000 barrels, the survey showed. The API, apart from the big crude stockbuild, Tuesday reported a 600,000-barrel draw for gasoline and a 100,000-barrel rebound for distillates. "If the (EIA) matches those figures, crude stocks will be as high as they were in the summer of 1990, right before Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait," Beutel said. "Of course, Saddam's misadventure led to the withdrawal of substantial amounts of crude over the following months, but this time around, we would need something even more dramatic to eat into inventories. Nothing like that seems to be on the horizon." Meantime, Asian share markets declined on Wall Street's overnight lead, while a dollar uptick against the euro also capped buying interest in oil; some analysts suggested the market's focus could stray from supply-demand factors after the EIA report. "We look for the weekly stats to have only a brief impact on the complex before it reverts back to guidance from the financial markets," Jim Ritterbusch at Ritterbusch and Associates said in a note to clients. "Given the recent importance of this direction that is being provided to the oil futures by the stock market, (the 1315 GMT release of the) industrial production/capacity utilization report could prove critical. Thursday's housing start figures will also be significant as this week proceeds."
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/sto...x?guid={89C2B79F-CFFF-4CBB-A368-EA187BFB170B} U.S. stock futures slip after Intel's outlook LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures edged lower on Wednesday, with Intel's cautious outlook giving further ammunition for bears after two straight losses. On the economics calendar, traders will be watching the release of March consumer price inflation data at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch produced a consensus forecast of a 0.1% drop following a 0.4% rise in February. Following two consecutive months of gains in the producer price index, the PPI unexpectedly fell 1.2% in March, the Labor Department reported Tuesday, reviving deflation fears. Markets will also be watching the release of the April Empire State index, a gauge of manufacturing activity in New York state, at 8:30 a.m., net inflows data at 9 a.m. Eastern and March industrial production data at 9:15 a.m. Eastern. The NAHB housing market index is due for release at 1 p.m. In Asia, stock markets ended mixed, with the Nikkei 225 falling 1.1% in Tokyo while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.4% for its fifth straight rise. Tech plays struggled in the wake of Intel's guidance. In Europe, the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 slipped 0.4% as banks and metals extractors fell. The dollar edged 0.2% higher vs. the Japanese yen and gold futures were nearly flat. Oil futures rose above the $50 a barrel level ahead of weekly energy inventories
World stocks mostly down as Intel omits guidance LONDON (AP) -- World stock markets were mostly lower Wednesday after Intel Corp., the world's biggest chipmaker, failed to provide an earnings forecast even though it posted stronger than anticipated first quarter profit. By mid-morning London time, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 3.04 points, or 0.1 percent, at 3,985.95, while Germany's DAX fell 18.04, or 0.4 percent, at 4,538.97. The CAC-40 in France was also down 11.08 points, or 0.4 percent, at 2,989.14. Intel said net profit in the three months to March 28 fell 11 percent from the previous year to $647 million. Though that exceeded market forecasts, the company's failure to provide a guidance weighed on sentiment around the world, especialy after disappointing U.S. retail sales figures. Earlier in Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average lost 99.72 points, or 1.1 percent, to 8,742.96 and South Korea's Kospi fell 9.54, or 0.7 percent, to 1,333.09. Stock averages in Australia and Taiwan also fell.
added a couple shorts above 50.00, and got out of all of them at 49.35. holding onto 1 short from 49.45 now
Short was to obvious, this is going back up today into the 50s. Not in a trade though waiting for confirmation. Just a hunch.