So, Goldman Sachs, Take That! Bank of America Says Oil Could HIt $160

Two days ago, Goldman Sachs said this would be a good time to take profits on oil.

The price of WTI oil falls about 3 percent.

Today, Bank of America says the price of Brent oil could hit $160, albeit briefly.

"With oil demand expanding rapidly and Libya production down by at least 1 million barrels per day, we forecast (the) Brent crude oil price to average 122 dollars a barrel in the second quarter, and believe prices could briefly break through 140 dollars in the next 3 months," she said.

Oil is back up a bit today.

As an investor, I'm not agile enough to get into and out of the market, but with regard to oil, the moment-by-moment change in oil prices don't mean a whole lot. This is what matters:

• a) Hedges, collars, and contracts that producers make
• b) Actual production (which can be adversely affected by sandstorms, blizzards, conflicts, and politics)
• c) Overall trend (affected by trends in inflation, strength of dollar, growth of global economy)

But in the near term, this may be most important: Saudi Arabia can raise the price of oil, but Saudi Arabia cannot lower the price of oil (personal opinion; most do not agree with me on that).