Oil market participants do not need any more uncertainty, therefore the glitch in CME today which has all futures markets down, might throw up some strange trading levels when it eventually arises from its binary-spilling slumber. As it is, the Ukraine negotiations can give one a healthy dose of optimism or in our case, scepticism.
Even though each week threatens to reveal a final solving of the never-ending and multi aspects of a Russian solution in oil market thinking, there is always a Narnia cupboard door allowing an escape into fantasy to gather more unforeseen and unexpected twists.
Some things are going up in the US: the stock market, unemployment, and the prices of groceries, shelter, and healthcare. The latter category reflects bleak economic data and, ironically, supports the former. Disappointing US September retail sales and cooling investor sentiment lay bare the impact of the so-called affordability crisis, which, in turn, raises the odds of interest rate cuts next month.
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