I see gold took quite a tumble yesterday [Thursday); didn't know why; then saw articles today [Friday] about Fed wanting to end "QE" by the end of this year. Regardless of the reason for gold falling in price, I would have expected oil to have followed. Before the market open, I saw that oil had fallen $1.10 according to the TV crawler, but on Yahoo, now, it's only down about 25 cents. I don't know if Yahoo and CNBC track "the same oil" quotes. Be that as it may, it appears that the price of oil is holding, despite a) fall in gold; b) slow driving season; c) lousy jobs report. For oil investors, that all seems bullish.Now today, in USA Today:
That early winter break you've been getting at the gasoline pump? It's beginning to show signs of cracking.
Gasoline prices remain below $3 a gallon in at least 50% or more outlets in 14 states. But the national average has crept up three cents to $3.30 a gallon the past week and 8 cents since hitting a 2012 low of $3.22 in mid-December.
It's likely to get worse in the coming weeks. Crude oil prices are up about $10 a gallon the past month (sic), with benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude closing at $93.09 a barrel Friday, finishing the week up 2.5%.On Friday, writing about the price of gold tumbling, I expected oil to follow suit; I was surprised it did not, as noted above. USA Today blames it on limited refinery capacity. Possibly, but that explanation certainly seems weak. I think RBN Energy has provided nice hints why we are seeing this rise in the price of oil despite decreased demand.
By the way, note the phrase in bold from USA Today: Crude oil prices are up about $10 a gallon the past month (sic), ... if crude oil prices are up about $10/gallon, that would be about $420/barrel, considering there are 42 gallons in a barrel. But I digress. I assume it's a typographical unless there is some conversion factor I am missing. (I won't recheck the story; if they correct it, readers might let me know.)
