How do you trade crude oil?

Discussion in 'Commodity Futures' started by bizkitgto, Jun 9, 2017.

  1. shatteredx

    shatteredx

    CL front month, simple trend following strategy.

    I don't follow Al Brooks but I liked what he said about crude in Futuresmag a couple months ago:

    "The daily crude oil chart has been in a triangle for a year. There is, therefore, a 50% chance that there will be a bull breakout and a 50% chance of a bear breakout. While there eventually will be a breakout up or down, there is no sign that either is about to happen. The odds favor more sideways trading.

    As a trader, knowing the answer to this question does not make me money. I, therefore, think that the answer is irrelevant. My goal is to make money, not to speculate on hypothetical questions. There are many institutions trading the crude oil market. Since the price has been in a tight range for a year, there is clearly a consensus that the price is fair. There is currently no need for it to move beyond the borders of the current range.

    Every trading range eventually breaks out. Yet, 80% of breakout attempt fail. To confirm this, simply look at the chart. There have been many strong rallies and selloffs over the past year. During each rally, television put experts on who said that there soon be a strong bull breakout. During the sharp selloffs, TV found experts with equally impressive titles and credentials who confidently said that the bear breakout was imminent.

    As a trader, I don’t care what these experts say because they really have no way of knowing. The chart is telling us that the legs up and down are simply tests to see if the bears will continue to give up at the bottom and the bulls will sell out at the top. At some point, there will either be more bulls holding on at the top and buying more, creating a strong bull breakout, or there will be more bears holding on at the bottom and selling more, creating a bear breakout. Until either happens, all we know is that the price is currently fair for both the bulls and the bears.

    I have been trading for more than 30 years. One thing that I strongly believe is that there is always both a bull and bear interpretation of every fact. If OPEC extends the cuts, but there is a bear breakout, the pundits will say that the market already priced that in and that the bear breakout came because the market was disappointed by the absence of further cuts. If OPEC ends the cuts, but there is a bull breakout in the face of increased supply, the experts will confidently explain that the rally was because the world economy was much stronger than anyone realized and that demand outpaced supply. This is all nonsense.

    No one knows all the reasons why the 200 firms that dominate oil trading buy or sell at any moment. There are too many variables, and most are unknowable, and no one knows the relative importance of each. All that matters is the price. Price is truth. It shows the final vote tally of bull and bear dollars. If there is a bull breakout, more dollars want to buy, and I will see this and buy as well. If there is a bear breakout, more dollars want to sell, and I will sell. That is all that matters. I want to make money. This is how to do it."

    http://www.futuresmag.com/2017/04/2...s-beyond-june-and-what-will-mean-price?page=3
     
    #21     Jun 21, 2017
  2. %%
    Good link; Futures magazine -MODERN TRADER magazine link. I usually get something good out of DR Al Brooks, daytrader. But my ,how things have changed since April Analysis. Most daytraders i noticed, seem to not study medium + longer term trends much + maybe they should not .As Dr Brooks noted ''Price is Truth'' Thanks trader sTTx
     
    #22     Jun 21, 2017
  3. u said it well.

    that is the way it really is
    when you go on live against
    whoever on the other side taking
    your order.

    but sadly, not everyone would
    agree with you. LOL
     
    #23     Jun 28, 2017
  4. #24     Jun 28, 2017
  5. birzos

    birzos

    That depends on what leverage you want to use, which depends on how accurate your trades are, which depends on whether you can absorb the signals in one of the most manipulated markets on the planet where the technicals are thrown aside without notice. ETFs are usually the way to go if you have even a microscopic doubt.
     
    #25     Jun 29, 2017
  6. #26     Jul 11, 2017
  7. Overnight

    Overnight

    Yes, a good article, from 4 years ago.

    "Volume in crude oil futures is pretty good to trade in my opinion. Averaging about 300,000 contracts per day."

    That was then, this is now.

    We keep getting US inventory declines, but the price keeps falling. Smoke it in a pipe and muse upon it.

    Think...*machine-readable data*. This is the new front of trading action. I have seen it first-hand.
     
    #27     Jul 12, 2017
  8. themickey

    themickey

    Would you please care to expand on this, thanks muchly
     
    #28     Jul 12, 2017
  9. Overnight

    Overnight

    #29     Jul 12, 2017
    themickey likes this.
  10. I get that... But using the signals and using range bars the same concept of overbought oversold still works...... at least for me anyways
     
    #30     Jul 13, 2017