In the energy market on Monday, crude for June delivery pushed to a better than 5-month high, closing at $54.47/barrel, up $1.27. June reformulated gasoline gained 6.86 cents, to $1.586/gallon.

Traders were upbeat after the home sales numbers and a report out of China that its PMI had also risen, for the second straight month.

It’s also “following stocks higher,” said Phil Flynn, of Alaron Trading.

There was a bit of wariness, though, with inventories remaining at 19-year highs and the bank stress tests looming.

“We are somewhat apprehensive about price prospects for energy over the short term in light of the stress-test results due to be announced later this week,” said Edward Meir, of MF Global (NYSE:MF).

“Both the commodity and equity markets have already pushed substantially higher in response to the slight improvement in the macro statistics,” Meir added.

Source: Oil Moves Higher

Barring some dramatic – and unforeseen – news this week, expect investors to tread water until Thursday, when the government is expected to release the results of the bank stress tests it conducted on the 19 largest U.S. banks.

The stress-test results are expected to show that the 19 banks may have to raise between $100 billion to $150 billion – or even more – in new capital. Investors will cause the shares of the strong players to zoom northward, and will likely savage the shares of the weakest players.

“I can’t think of a time since I’ve been watching banks when there’s been so much uncertainty about the true value of a key set of assets,” Douglas Elliott, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, told Reuters.

The U.S. bank stress tests have transfixed the world financial markets for weeks, exacerbating the ongoing financial crisis – worsening the U.S.

With big bank bailouts dominating the news, there’s no better time to get the truth about bank safety.

This informative article has been excerpted from Bob Prechter’s New York Times bestseller Conquer the Crash. Unlike recent news articles that are responding to the banking crisis, it was published in 2002 before anyone was even talking about bank safety. However, you may find the information even more valuable today than ever before.

For even more information on bank safety, visit Elliott Wave International to download the free 10-page report, Discover the Top 100 Safest U.S. Banks. It contains details on how you can protect your money from the current financial crisis, updated for 2008.

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Between 1929 and 1933, 9000 banks in the United States closed their doors. President Roosevelt shut down all banks for a short …