If you are trading oil stocks and waiting for a rebound you may need to wait quite a long time. Investor Place writes about the recent mini rally in oil stocks and asks if the gusher is about to run dry.
After bottoming out around the $60 level on Sept. 29, shares of the Energy SPDR (XLE) – which is comprised of the top oil stock names like Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) and Chevron Corporation (CVX) – have been on a major bull run, moving up nearly 15% over the past eight trading sessions. This easily outpaced the gain in crude oil prices during the same period (10%), as oil prices briefly hit the $50 level on Friday before retreating.
Shares of XLE finally showed some weakness on Friday, though, closing lower by 45 cents after trading higher earlier in the session.
From a technical standpoint, however, XLE is getting into overbought territory, with 9-day Relative Strength Index readings over 70 for only the third time over the past two years.Fundamentally, the weaker dollar and concerns out of Syria have provided a short-term positive backdrop for oil stocks, but longer-term, oversupply concerns still are still the predominant theme.
This last point is the most important if your trading of oil stocks is anything but very short term. The global economy is in the doldrums and U.S. and Saudi oil production are both strong. Supply trumps demand and prices will remain low for the foreseeable future.
Global Crude Glut
When can those trading oil stocks look to see the price go up? It will be at least a year. The Wall Street Journal writes about reports of a global crude glut well into 2016.
The International Energy Agency, which represents some of the world’s largest oil consumers, said Tuesday that oil demand will slow next year while an expected return of Iranian crude to the market will add to the oversupply.
“The market may be off balance for a while longer,” the Paris-based agency said in its monthly report.
The one factor to keep in mind is the escalation of violence in the Middle East. If the current push by Syria, Hezbollah, Iran and Russia to regain ground for the Assad regime gets out of hand the ever-twitchy Middle East could become more unstable and that could cut oil production. At the same time all-out war in the Middle East would also further hurt the world economy and drive down demand.
The China Card
Chinese exports are down a few percent for last year but imports are down more like twenty percent. If the Chinese economy slows faster than expected it will further reduce demand for crude oil. Those trading oil stocks need to keep up with the melodrama of Chinese economic reports. Bloomberg asks if we really know how bad the Chinese economy is doing. China is referred to as a company masquerading as a country where investors can get in but not get out and where the investment premium is not worth the risk. Investors expect a distress cycle that will be painful. All of this being the case with the second largest economy in the world those trading oil stocks for the time being should be looking for low prices for at least a year.
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