The weekly chart for crude oil futures, shows little change in the COT index data, with a very low reading once again, suggesting that we are reaching a turning point for the daily oil price, and it would not be a surprise to see oil prices rising in the near future. The trend of the last three months has been for oil prices to move sideways in a relatively narrow trading range between $35 and $50 per barrel. The longer this trend continues them the more dynamic will be the breakout from this range when it occurs. With OPEC having decided not to cut oil production this week, this could add a bullish sentiment to the market this week, and it would not be a surprise to see a break above %50 per barrel as a result. Whilst the COT index is not a timing tool, it can provide us with a direction, and from the data we have seen in the last few weeks, with the commercial contract holders not selling into the market, we should therefore expect a move higher in due course. You can find the latest daily oil price on the live charts, along with the spot silver price and spot gold prices. In addition an economic calendar is now also available which is updated each day with the main fundamental news.

COT Index - Weekly Report Crude Oil January 27th 2009

With the index falling, this suggests that the commercial group is expecting crude oil prices to fall further and are therefore stockpiling supplies in the hope of prices rising in the future. For a clear buying signal we need to wait for the index to reach a low of 5-10, before we can expect any significant rise in prices in the short term. If you would like to follow my daily oil prices posts then please just follow the link.