Gold prices fell over one percent in trading on Wednesday and settled at $1,553.50 an ounce. Crude oil also fell in trading after U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed a strong increase in crude oil inventories. For the week ending March 29th, crude oil inventories increased 2.71 million barrels. Crude oil fell to slightly over $95 a barrel.
To read a related Fox Business article, please click here:
Jim Sutliff
Crude oil for May increased in trading on Monday and settled below $95 a barrel. Positive economic data has helped to drive crude oil prices higher in trading. In addition, crude oil inventory levels in Cushing Oklahoma have continued to fall . Brent crude also traded higher on Monday and was slightly above $108 .
To read a related Wall Street Journal article, please click here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130325-709637.html
James Sutliff
Prices of crude oil continued to fall and settled below $91 on Friday. Global economic concerns and high inventory levels of crude oil are two forces driving the price of crude oil lower in trading. Heating oil prices were also lower in trading on Friday.
To read a related Fox Business article, please click here:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2013/03/01/crude-oil-futures-settle-at-2013-low-068-barrel/
Jim Sutliff
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, natural gas inventory levels remained higher than the five year average. Natural gas inventory fell 127 billion cubic feet last week which was near analysts expectations. Currently, inventory levels are 2,400 billion cubic feet which is 17.7% higher than the five year average.
To visit the U.S. Energy Information Administration site, please click here:
http://ir.eia.gov/ngs/ngs.html
James Sutliff
A recent MSN Money article discusses rising U.S. bond yields and the economic recovery. An increase in bond yields may influence the housing market as well as investments in the public sector. Recently, ten year Treasuries rose above the 2% mark hitting 2.04% on Friday.
To read a related MSN Money article, please click here:
http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=OBR&date=20130203&id=16074673
Jim Sutliff
Crude oil continued to rise and traded over $96 a barrel on Tuesday. Economic growth in China and unrest in Algeria supported prices. In additon, the International Energy Agency increased their forecast for oil demand in 2013.  Crude oil prices have been increasing since early December.
To read a related Fox Business article, please click here:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2013/01/22/oil-futures-edge-up-brent-tops-112bbl/
James Sutliff
According to the Energy Information Administration, inventories of crude oil fell 11. 1 million barrels. The decline was partly due to year end tax concerns in the refining industry. However, crude oil inventories rose significantly in Cushing Oklahoma which is major storage and trading hub.  The rise in inventory levels at Cushing kept downward pressure on trading prices. Also, gasoline inventories rose 2.6 million barrels which was slightly higher than the 2.3 million increase that analysts had expected.  In addition, distillate supplies also increased and rose by 4.6 million barrels.
To read a related Wall Street Journal article, please click here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130104-707595.html
Jim Sutliff
Republicans and Democrats finished the week without coming to an agreement that would avoid the fiscal cliff. Fiscal cliff concerns helped to drive down the price of crude oil in Friday trading. Crude oil fell to almost $88 a barrel after hitting $90 a barrel on Thursday.
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James Sutliff
Republicans and Democrats are still far apart in negotiations to avoid the fiscal cliff. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Republican John Boehner are involved in the negotiation process. There are only 31 days left until January 1st.
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Jim Sutliff
Gold has fallen below $1,700 an ounce which is well off the 52 week high. Gold was trading near the $1,800 an ounce mark as recently as early October. Also, crude oil is slightly below $85 a barrel.
To visit the Bloomberg Commodity Indexes, please click here:
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/commodities/futures/
Jim Sutliff
Standard & Poor’s lowered the long and short term credit ratings on Spain. The long term credit rating was lowered from BBB+ to BBB- with a negative outlook. The short term credit rating was lowered from A-3 to A-2. The downgrade was partially due to political and economic concerns.
To visit the Standard & Poor’s site, please click here:
http://www.standardandpoors.com/ratings/articles/en/us/?assetID=1245341838856
James Sutliff
According to the Institute for Supply Management, the national factory activity index rose 1.9 to 51.5 in September. This marked the first expansion of U.S. manufacturing since May. New orders and employment also increased in September.
To read a related MSN Money article, please click here:
Jim Sutliff
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose slightly on Thursday and closed at 13,597. Gold declined $8.70 to $1,763 an ounce. Crude oil also fell and finished at $91.72 a barrel. High inventory levels were a factor in driving the price of crude oil lower on Thursday.
To read a related Fox Business article, please click here:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2012/09/20/sp-ticks-lower-amid-weak-data/
James Sutliff
Crude oil futures for October declined $1.17 after data from the Institute for Supply Management. The purchasing managers index fell to 49.6 which is the lowest the index has been since July 2009. A weak global economy has also contributed to lower demand for crude oil.
To read a related Wall Street Journal article, please click here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120904-711667.html
Jim Sutliff
Natural gas traded lower after forecasts predicted that Tropical Storm Isaac will miss major production areas of the Gulf of Mexico. Natural gas traded slightly above $2.7 a million British Thermal Units. Also, the Energy Information Administration indicated a larger than expected increase in supplies.
To read a related Wall Street Journal article, please click here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120824-709974.html
James Sutliff