Time for a small pullback before higher price tags?West Texas Intermediate crude oil has increased nearly 20% since the start of 2024 and is currently trading near $86.50 per barrel. The precarious situation in the Red Sea, production cuts by OPEC (and its allies), and the inability of the United States to bring more production online fast enough have greatly contributed to the rising oil prices in the past four months. Going forward, it is unlikely that the geopolitical issues in the Middle East will improve anytime soon, especially following a severe escalation of tensions between Israel and Iran earlier this week when Israel killed two Iranian generals by airstrike in Damascus, Syria (not to mention constant failures in peace negotiations between Hamas and Israel, and Israel’s plans to continue military operations in Gaza). These actions will likely provoke retaliation from Iran in the form of more attacks on Israel through its proxies. As these relationships seem to have entered a spiral of reciprocating aggression, the odds of a huge war spillover continue to grow, which has enormous implications for this oil-rich producing region and the oil market itself.
On the subject of technicals, the daily and weekly time frames are bullish. However, the USOIL broke above the ascending channel on Tuesday, and the RSI reached overbought territory on the daily timeframe. Besides that, the price also deviated too far from its 20-day and 50-day SMAs, which increases the chances of a short-term pullback in the price of oil. Nonetheless, the probability of oil reaching $90 per barrel in the coming weeks continues to rise.
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 displays the upward-sloping channel on USOIL’s daily chart. The yellow arrow indicates a breakout above the channel.
Illustration 1.02
The chart above illustrates simple support/resistance levels derived from past peaks and troughs. Alternative support levels lay at $85.85, $83.56, and $79.72.
Technical analysis
Daily time frame = Bullish
Weekly time frame = Bullish
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor or any other entity. Your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
Westtexasintermediate
Bullish trend is still relatively weakWest Texas Intermediate crude oil continues to trade within the upward-sloping channel. However, its bullish trend remains weak, as reflected in the relatively low (but growing) value of ADX (on the daily time frame). In the past two trading sessions, the daily RSI continued to flatten, Stochastic turned lower, and MACD performed a bearish crossover while staying above the midpoint. With these developments unfolding, we pay close attention to the 20-day SMA and resistance levels at $79.25 and $79.72. The price’s ability to retest these resistance levels and ideally maintain a ground above them will bolster a bullish case in the short term. In contrast, a breakdown below the 20-day SMA might hint at oil wanting to slide toward the channel's lower bound.
Illustration 1.01
Illustration 1.01 shows the daily graph of USOIL and two simple moving averages. The yellow arrow indicates the oil’s recent retracement toward its 20-day SMA, which acts as a support.
Illustration 1.02
Illustration 1.02 shows the daily MACD. The yellow arrow highlights a bearish crossover between the MACD and signal lines. While this is slightly bearish, it is important to note that MACD remains in the bullish territory.
Illustration 1.03
The chart above illustrates simple support/resistance levels derived from past peaks and troughs; one more alternative resistance lies at $79.72.
Technical analysis
Daily time frame = Bullish (weak)
Weekly time frame = Neutral
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor or any other entity. Your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.
New lows, volatility about to continue, and a potential bounceIn the past few days, USOIL constituted a new low below 73$, marking a 43% decline from its peak a few months earlier. This move came amid our bearish expectations for oil and forecast for lower prices. We continue to stick to this call altogether with our price target at 70$, which was updated recently to a short-term price target (from medium-term). Our views are based on technical and fundamental factors described below and in previous articles.
Illustration 1.01
The daily chart of USOIL shows the price decline between 8th March 2022 and today. The yellow arrow indicates a bearish breakout below the previous low and subsequent bullish retracement. To further support our bearish thesis, we would like to see the price break again below 73.62$ and hold there.
Technical analysis
Daily time frame = Bearish
Weekly time frame = Bearish
Illustration 1.02
Illustration 1.02 displays the daily chart of USOIL and simple support/resistance levels + two simple moving averages. At the moment, the price deviated too far from its 20-day and 50-day SMAs, which is often followed by the price retracement toward a mean; currently, these SMAs act as important resistance levels.
Please feel free to express your ideas and thoughts in the comment section.
DISCLAIMER: This analysis is not intended to encourage any buying or selling of any particular securities. Furthermore, it should not be a basis for taking any trade action by an individual investor. Therefore, your own due diligence is highly advised before entering a trade.