Brent Crude Oil Technical Analysis 2016, 24.07 - 31.07: daily bearish breakdown with 43.30 key support

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Press review

Sergey Golubev, 2016.07.25 17:50

Opinion: Oil prices slide on oversupply (based on the article)

Morgan Stanley:
"The potential for larger-than-normal stock builds is growing. With the market increasingly trading on DOE (U.S. Department of Energy) stats, this could be a catalyst for additional downside. As a result, crude oil demand from refineries is underperforming product demand by a wide margin."

Barclays:
"Global oil demand in the third quarter of 2016 was expanding at less than a third of the year-earlier rate, weighed down by anaemic economic growth. Demand support from developed economies had faded, while growth from China and India had slowed."

Energy Aspects:
"The oil market was beginning to show small signs of "normalcy" in supply-and-demand balances. Crude markets are slowly tightening and are now more resilient in the face of falling refinery demand for crude. We do not mean that the rebalancing is over, or even close to being over, but nevertheless, we are now in a new market paradigm where the steps towards normalcy begin."

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Indicators: USDx dollar index

Sergey Golubev, 2013.11.06 15:02

Dollar Index Futures & Correlations to Crude Oil & Gold Futures Trading

Scalpers, Intra-Day, Position & Swing traders alike benefit from the correlations seen between the US Dollar Futures Index (DX) & Commodity Futures such as Gold (GC) & Crude Oil (GC). The US Dollar Index Futures is one of the most widely-recognized electronically-trader markets in the world. Comparing the USD against a basket of major currencies, this futures index has relatively low daily trading volume compared to Euro or Pound, and is primarily used for its strong correlations to aid traders in many different situations. Professional traders watch the Dollar Index at the times it is most active, which occurs from 8am to 12pm EST during trading days. The times also correspond well with Crude Oil & Gold futures, which also see more activity at these times as well.There are many ways to use the US Dollar Index for trading opportunities, but most traders find the DX to be most consistently-used as a filter for high-risk trades.

Let's first discuss the basic correlation that traders use. There is a negative correlation between the DX and almost every other market that traders watch. The Dollar is negative to other currencies b/c it's the world reserve currency, and it's negative to commodities b/c of the simple laws of supply and demand. Let's focus on the correlation to Gold & Crude Oil Futures.

As traders, there are lots of different times in the day when the dollar begins to move more dramatically, such as the open of the US Markets @ 9:30am EST, before and after major news events such as Jobless Claims Reports or FOMC News. We look for the Dollar to begin its trend, and using the negative correlation between these markets, we look for crude oil & gold opportunities to the opposite of the dollar's trend. When the Dollar is trending, traders use Breakout Patterns to capitalize on this correlation. With the dollar rising, look for high-percentage entries to the short side of Gold or Crude Oil Futures.

Most traders will use the Dollar correlation as a filter because it allows them to avoid high-risk entries on Gold & Crude Oil Futures. Without a trend on Dollar, the Gold & Crude Oil Futures also show flat price action, and tend to reverse their current trends often. The dollar has a tendency to get very choppy during indecisive times in the market, and we tend to stay away from higher-risk trading on Crude Oil & Gold during these times.

Another important thing to watch on the Dollar is key Support & Resistance around simple chart patterns. For example, using a Head & Shoulders pattern on the Dollar, traders will avoid trading Gold & Crude Oil when the Dollar attempts to complete the trend reversal. Smart traders will wait to trade the reaction to the move around these extreme levels, rather than trying to be the first to enter the market when the Dollar here. In closing, the Dollar Index Futures can be used very effectively with a negative correlation with many of the market we love to trade. Of all the uses for this index, the most effective way most traders use the Dollar is as a filter, to avoid taking high-risk trades on other markets such as Crude Oil & Gold.