Basic Techniques  |  SEP 2004

The Crude Mini Cometh by David Penn

V. 22:9 (78-82): The Crude Mini Cometh by David Penn Minis? Energies? For the little guy, trading energy futures just got easier. What were you doing in the autumn of 1990? Well, if you were a futures trader, and it was sometime in late August or early September, then you were probably on the long side of crude oil, a ride that ended up taking fortunate traders to a high of more than $40 a barrel by October. Missed that one, did you? Well, how about the move down in 1993? Or even better, the collapse in 1998, when crude oil got dangerously near $10 a barrel? I bet the shorts made a killing then! Oh, you weren’t in on that one, either. Well, what about natural gas? That run in 2000 — the one that ended with natural gas futures topping $10 — would have made up for a whole year’s worth of misses and messed-up trades, right? No, wait a minute, don’t tell me: you don’t trade natural gas, either. So, no point in asking you about the rally in 2003 with crude oil, the one that saw crude oil future rocket up to … Right, right. Gotcha. Sorry. Pretend I never brought it up.

by David Penn