Bullish Sentiment Prevalent among OpenBook’s Oil Traders

(eToro Blog) Despite an escalation of Eurozone-related worries, oil prices held steady as possible supply disruptions propped up prices and is helping to keep the long-term trend intact. In the Eurozone, the Spanish government’s obstinacy is weighing heavily on sentiment, while new concerns over Greece’s massive debt load underscores the difficulty E.U. leaders have in corralling the crisis.

While Middle Eastern conflicts have consistently helped to keep oil prices elevated, Iran’s latest rhetoric is providing some additional lift. According to one commodity analyst in Tokyo, those conflicts have provided a premium on oil prices, suggesting that crude oil prices are about $20 higher than they would otherwise be.

Based strictly on a technical analysis, analysts expect that NYMEX-traded WTI crude will be trading within a tight trading band of $88.50 to $91.50 within the next day; in yesterday’s trading session, WTI oil prices slipped below $90.27, the 100-day moving average. U.S. oil is also finding some support from the recent report that stockpiles unexpectedly fell last week by 2.45 million barrels against expectations of a rise in supply.

On OpenBook, sentiment among oil traders is overwhelmingly bullish with 97% buying against 3% selling. OpenBook trader ENRY69 from Lithuania has been able to successfully gauge direction; yesterday the trader closed a short position with a gain of 9.36%, and currently has three open long positions one of which is already in the green with a 7.00% gain. The trader has allocated nearly his entire portfolio to oil trade, and over the past month has earned 17% from his 99.8% holding. The trader’s realized equity over the same period was 226.2%, and for last week it was 61%.

OpenBook trader vitverag from Hungary divides his portfolio between currencies (65%) and commodities (35%). The trader yesterday closed a long position in oil with a solid gain of 94.45% and his 10% holding in oil over the past six months has provided a gain of 9.6%. Over the same period the trader had realized equity of 18.8%. As of this writing the trader is still waiting for his first copier but has a solid following of 247 fellow traders.

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