CL Redux

I use tick based charts. The only time I enter is when the volume picture matches the price picture.

 

Futures Movers

April 18, 2011, 11:06 a.m. EDT
Oil slides 2% as S&P cuts ratings outlook on U.S.

By Claudia Assis and Laura Mandaro, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures fell further Monday after Standard & Poor’s cut its outlook on the U.S. government’s credit rating to negative, sparking a rush from stocks and growth-leveraged commodities.

Benchmark light, sweet crude for May delivery (NEW:CLK11) fell $2.57, or 2.3%, to $107.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gasoline, natural gas, copper, corn and soybeans were all lower, with a stronger dollar also providing some headwinds.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOW-DJIA) fell 221 points, or 1.8%, to 12,121.

Gold added to gains with the June gold contract (COMMODITIES:GCM11) rising $10.30 to $1,496.40 an ounce. Read more about gold

Before the start of U.S. trading, Standard & Poor’s said it slashed its outlook on the U.S. to negative from stable, though it kept its triple-A rating on the world’s largest economy.

“More than two years after the beginning of the recent crisis, U.S. policy makers have still not agreed on how to reverse recent fiscal deterioration,” Standard & Poor’s said. Read more about S&P’s ratings cut.

The dollar index (BOARD-DXY) , which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, rose to 75.524 from 74.867 in late North American trading Friday.

Ahead of the report, oil had traded lower but above $108 a barrel as investors worried about softer demand due to the recent prices increases.

Earlier Monday, Saudi Arabia announced it had cut output for March due to the weaker demand, according to news reports.

Saudi Arabia’s output reached 8.292 million barrels a day, down from 9.125 million in February. Some major oil-consuming nations had hoped Saudi output could help send oil prices lower.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said that April production was expected to rise slightly from March levels, according to the reports.
Big oil technology aims to stop spills

A new device called a “capping stack,” unveiled by a consortium of oil companies, aims to allow emergency responders to plug deepwater oil spills similar to the one in the Gulf of Mexico last year.

The reports came as geopolitical tensions and violent attacks continued across the Middle East and North Africa over the weekend, stoking uncertainty in oil markets. Read more about Middle East and North African unrest.

“The market remains far from any equilibrium, supply losses have not been made good, geopolitical risk remains elevated, spare capacity is still falling, and the very limited movement along the demand curve in response to higher prices has thus far been an order of magnitude less than the supply-side outages,” analysts at Barclays Capital said in a research note.

However, concerns eased about violence in presidential elections in Nigeria, a major oil exporter, with CNN reporting the vote was “largely peaceful.”

Media reports following the Saturday election said incumbent Goodluck Jonathan was likely to win re-election, with official results possible as early as Monday. See report on concerns surrounding Nigerian election.

Other fuels also traded lower on Monday, with gasoline for May delivery (NEW:RBK11) down 3 cents, or 1.2%, to $3.25 a gallon.

May natural gas (NEW:NGK11) retreated 5 cents, or 1.4%, to $4.15 per million British thermal units.

Natural gas is “relatively cheap as we currently have near average storage and below-average prices, but without any particular near-term pressure to lift prices we see potential for ongoing choppy trade within the recent rage,” said Tim Evans, an analyst with Citigroup’s Citi Futures Perspective, in a note to clients.

 

Thanks for sharing your chart.

My 1 min is still showing more consolidation.

 

April 18, 2011, 11:36 a.m. EDT

S&P U.S. downgrade: Call to action or bad call?

We have two differing views of S&P's downgrade of the U.S. debt outlook. Jim Awad of Zephyr Management says it's a call to action. MarketWatch Chief Economist Irwin Kellner says it was a bad call.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sp-us-downgrade-call-to-action-or-bad-call-2011-04-18
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Again, Moody's had the opposite take.

April 18, 2011, 9:00 a.m. EDT
Budget proposals would boost U.S. credit: Moody's

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The latest budget proposals from President Obama and the Republican leadership would lower the U.S. deficit and debt levels and be positive for the country's credit rating, which is Aaa with a stable outlook, Moody's Investors Service said Monday. Both proposals mark a significant shift towards indicating a willingness and plan to improve its debt outlook. "Either the president's revised proposal or the Republican proposal would improve the U.S. government's creditworthiness," Steven Hess, a senior credit officer at Moody's wrote in a report. The means to reduce the debt differ significantly, "and it is politically out of the question that either of them will be adopted as proposed," he said. "Despite these uncertainties, we view the changed parameters of the debate, with broadly similar goals as to government debt levels, as a turning point that is positive for the long-term fiscal position of the U.S. federal government," Hess wrote.

 

looking more bearish, catching the break is the problem

 

On further investigation they discovered the selloff wasn't due to the S&P report but occurred as NoDoji left her desk early. Makes sense.

 

Tough call here. NQ has been in a gradual uptrend the last hour or so.

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ADD S2=106.58

 

Take a break. Do well

 

so this is what meat grinder feels like....

 

long 47's