TECHNICAL AND FUNDAMENTAL TECHNIQUES

Just as the Federal Reserve is thought to use policy to protect equity markets, Saudi Arabia tries to manage crude oil prices by manipulating its production levels writes Phil Flynn of The PRICE Futures Group. You have heard about the so-called Fed put. That is a term that means the Federal Reserve has the markets back. If the markets or economy start to falter, the Fed’s plunge protection team will get into gear and adjust monetary policy to create a floor for the market. That in turn gives investors confidence to take on more risk because, even if the market gets weak, the Fed won’t allow it to crash. With the recent rebound in crude oil, traders are now talking about the Saudi put. That is that Saudi Arabia will not allow oil prices to fall and if it does, they will cut production accordingly. In fact, the Saudi announcement that they want $80 a barrel for crude, and that they will reduce their exports by 800,000 barrels-per-day is sending a signal to the market that the w...

Both energy industry companies had a rough 2018, but the pipeline giant looks better positioned to outperform from here. Look out! The dividend yield of natural gas pipeline operator  Kinder Morgan  (NYSE:KMI)  seems about to overtake that of oil major  ExxonMobil  (NYSE:XOM) ! Currently, Kinder is yielding 4.6% while Exxon is yielding just 4.7%.  Beyond their dividend yields and their industry, though, the two companies don't share many similarities. But that's why Kinder Morgan may be a more attractive buy right now than ExxonMobil. Here's why you might want to consider the niche player despite Exxon's larger size and scope. Ups and downs One of ExxonMobil's biggest issues in recent years has been its declining oil and gas production. Although the final numbers aren't in for 2018, it looks as though the company is poised to post its third straight year of decreasing annual production (although it did manage to notch a sequential quarterly p...

Oil and gas producers aren't the only ones reeling from tumbling energy prices. Clean Energy Fuels, Green Plains, and U.S. Silica are struggling too The sudden drop in crude oil prices, coupled with a volatile end of the year for the U.S. stock market, pushed shares of many energy companies lower last month. That included companies that don't sell a single drop of crude oil, gasoline, or diesel. Shares of natural gas transportation: Fuels   pioneer  Clean  Energy  Fuels   fell 22.9% in December according to data provided by  S&P Global Market Intelligence . The market data also shows shares of ethanol and protein producer  Green Plains   slid 19.3%, while shares of sand and specialty mineal supplier  U.S. Silica   tumbled 28.3%. What specifically caused each company to take a tumble last month -- and can investors expect a rebound in 2019? Clean Energy Fuels made a lot of progress in 2018. Past efforts to simplify ...

International Brent crude futures were down 1 percent, or 63 cents, at $60.81 per barrel. Oil prices fell by 1 percent on Thursday on swelling US supply, although the mood in global markets was increasingly confident amid hopes the United States and China may soon end trade disputes that have undermined global economic growth. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $51.75 per barrel at 0113 GMT, down 61 cents, or 1.2 percent, from their last settlement. International Brent crude futures were down 1 percent, or 63 cents, at $60.81 per barrel. Both oil price benchmarks had jumped by around 5 percent the previous day as financial markets around the world surged on the hopes that Washington and Beijing may soon be able to end their trade disputes, soothing fears of an all-out trade war between the two biggest economies and its possible impact on global growth. "Amid easing trade tension and a weaker US dollar , crude oil prices rallied afte...

ASIA PACIFIC MARKET OPEN – US CHINA TRADE TALKS, US SHUTDOWN, CRUDE OIL, S&P 500, CANADIAN DOLLAR The  S&P 500  entered its third consecutive winning streak which is the best spree since late November 2018. This has brought gains of around 10% since it bottomed in December. The backdrop for Tuesday’s optimism seemed to have stemmed from bets of positive outcomes on US China trade talks which are being extended into a third day. Earlier in the day, US President  Donald Trump  dropped hints that negotiations are going along nicely, adding that he wants a deal soon to boost the markets. The general improvement in market mood led to gains in Asia, European and US benchmark stock indexes. Sentiment-linked  crude oil  prices rose for a 6 th  day, adding to its best climbing streak in about 8 months. Crude oil also received a boost later in the day when the  American Petroleum Institute  reported that stockpiles contracted ab...

Crude energies markets are continuing to spin higher as investors hope for peaceable trade talks to resolve between the US and China, which are currently underway at the vice-ministerial level, extending into a third day of talks with traders awaiting announcements following the trade meetings. Trade tensions between the US and China have spun out broader market sentimentin recent months, and investors are looking for any signs of a recovery in global trade in order to offset the increasing signs of economic slowdown across the planet for 2019. WTI is currently testing back into the 50.50 region, which sees a major technical barrier capping off further gains, though continued clampdown by OPEC+ on production limits could see energies forced higher as oil markets recover from fears of oversupply. GET ONE DAY FREE TRIAL>>> GOLD SILVER TIPS

Quant Cycles is a technical tool that employs proprietary statistical techniques and complex algorithms to filter multiple cycles from historical data, combines them to obtain cyclical information from price data and then gives a graphical representation of their predictive behavior (center line forecast). Other proprietary frequency techniques are then employed to obtain the cycles embedded in the prices. The upper and lower bands of the oscillator represent a two-standard deviation move from the predictive price band and is indicative of extreme overbought/oversold conditions. Recent Success On Dec. 24, the Quant Cycle indicated that the  CBOE Volatility Index  (VIX) have moved firmly into overbought territory, while the cycle still showed the VIX would experience downward momentum (see Chart). This is a major sell signal as the indicator is showing a downward bias just as the VIX is extremely overbought. The following chart from Jan. 4 shows how the mark...