Why the doom and gloom merchants are wrong about crude oil

The stock market is not the only thing that is up. Crude oil prices have jumped as well rising faster than the S&P for the past month.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) next month futures contract prices for crude oil on the NYMEX increased again last week. That marked the seventh consecutive week oil prices have gained, the first time that has happened since 2009. Overall, WTI pricing level has risen 11% since mid-December.

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Now all of this means something pretty important. As we've known for a while now, the oil market has been oversold with values unusually low. This has largely resulted from concerns over demand related to the ongoing recovery/recession debate.

However, that debate has never been a particularly genuine one, certainly not for the last two quarters.
Yes, if we fell off a fiscal cliff or ran into a budgetary wall or failed to raise the debt ceiling and the living room chandelier fell on our heads there would be some substance in the Chicken Little approach to market analysis.

But we haven't, and, we won't.

With Congressional approval ratings just above those of Attila the Hun, they will slink in, kick some cans down the street, and slink out. That means the penumbra behind which the doomsayers have operated is no longer worth the smoke and mirrors it is based upon.

Here's why...

The Sky is Not Falling on Oil Prices

We all know these guys. According to these prognosticators, the world is going to end. But just before that happens, you are going to lose all your money in the energy market.

Why? Because of their three arguments about the markets.
First, they say demand is plunging.

Second, they argue there is so much "new oil" being discovered that the price of a barrel will collapse to $40 or below (depending on who you read and how much he needs to sell his "insight" to cover the bills).
Third, there is a grand conspiracy (Republicans, Democrats, the White House, Congress, OPEC, the Russians, the Saudis, disco dancing, the list of culprits is endless) working against average folks.

Somehow, as trading returns to calmer expectations, some genuine market dynamics are finding their way into focus. And given a response to real factors, the price of oil is rising...with the value of related company stock in several sectors rising quicker. That usually means the expectations of those who really know the energy sector point toward a stronger recovery underway.

Don't get me wrong. This is not all movement in one direction. Traders remain an emotional bunch. Indications of problems in sustaining oil prices or of the larger economic recovery will occasionally provide an excuse to move things south.

Upon occasion, as we witnessed earlier this year, that downward pressure can last for a month or longer. And there are sometimes data to support such concerns.

Yet the sector doesn't stay down, and for one simple reason. Energy is the most pervasive need of an economy. If we are going to experience an across the board collapse, then energy will be going down with the ship.

But that is not happening. The doomsayers succeed only if the markets are only moving down. Any other development, renders their simplistic approach meaningless.

Of course, some of these pundits will provide you with graphs, charts and truncated figures to show the path to oblivion. Be careful what context you put these in. Disraeli, after all, was more right than whimsical when he pronounced from the floor of the House of Commons one evening: "There are three ways to hoodwink the masses - lies, damn lies, and statistics."

In response to their concerns, let's put this issue to bed.

Demand remains sluggish but is moving up. As the economic recovery takes hold, and we have clear indication on both sides of the Atlantic that this is taking place, demand will pick up.

As I recently noted in Oil & Energy Investor, an absolute majority of the forward economic indicators are energy intensive, and they are pointing up. These are the early indicators and have been a reason why energy prices are rising.

I have already discussed the issue of "new oil" at length in OEI. The combination of market factors, operational expenses, supply and a range of bottom line factors will determine how much is produced and released, not sterile reserve figures.

Remember, the new sources of oil are also more expensive to extract and process, while requiring significant amounts of expensive infrastructure development. All of these costs are passed on in price adjustments.
Finally, I like a good conspiracy theory as much as the next fellow does. But I would prefer they comprise a decent Hollywood script, not an approach to investing. The single biggest fallacy in blaming the "bad people" is obvious.

This remains a free market. Counter pressures to any such move, even if there were grounds for the concern, would guarantee alternative ways of making money.

I never worry about a secret society plotting my downfall. Because if it were even possible, there would be several ways to spin the moves into investment opportunities.

The proponents of the orchestrated collapse scenario also don't want to think about the factors their "puppet masters" can't control. Geopolitical tensions, natural disasters, and pipeline accidents.
And for good reason. All of these drive prices up not down.

On the other hand, many of doomsayers do have another agenda altogether. They are trying to convince you to jump ship and bring the market down. They are already shorting it, you see, and your response to their scare tactics makes them (not you) money.

There will be bouts with volatility coming. However, any viewpoint of longer than a few days will come to the same conclusion. Unless the Mayans return with another prediction, we are finally on a nice ride up in the energy sector.

Article reproduced as originally appeared in Market Oracle

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