Oil is a commodity that has steadily rose since December. Continuing its monumental climb, the commodity rose near $80 a barrel on Wednesday as the dollar continued to weaken, trumping a report pointing to a rise in U.S. oil inventories.

While this trend may be confusing to the everyday investor, analysts have stated that the drastic change in the price of oil is tied to how global stock markets are doing and the dollar’s fluctuating exchange rate. One such analyst is Oliver Jakob. Jakob, who is renowned globally for his spot-on predictions of market trends, stated in reference to the jump in oil prices that, “This has nothing to do with any oil supply and demand fundamentals.”

The Energy Information Administration is the benchmark for the market and they are scheduled to release its supply data on Thursday. While investors anxiously await that report, a survey from the American

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The number of traders betting that oil prices will drop outnumbers the number of traders who believe they will rise by the largest margin ever. Some analysts believe prices will fall significantly lower in the near future – at least into the low $60 a barrel range – after soaring to $75 a barrel in August.

Supply has outrun demand this year as a global recovery has yet to accelerate. Yet, oil prices more than doubled from February to August and are up about 50% from where they started the year.

Now, many traders are positioning themselves to profit from a pullback. The gap between prices of options betting on a decline in prices and those that would profit as a result of a rise in oil has widened to a record 10 percentage points, according to five years of data compiled by Banc of America Securities-Merrill Lynch.

Put options, which give traders

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Four Easy Ways to Trade the World’s Top Commodities

by Lee Lowell, Advisory Panelist

I’m going to open the door to a “secret society” for you today.

It’s a world shrouded in deep myths and folklore that include stories of people losing their homes, or having 5,000 bushels of soybeans dumped on their front lawn.

I’m talking about the commodities world, of course.

But despite these tall tales, commodities aren’t necessarily dangerous investments. Not if you know what you’re doing and take adequate precautions. Rather, the “secret society” stuff comes from the belief that the sector is a murky one that many investors simply don’t understand. Just the mere sound of “commodity futures and futures options contracts” was enough to send people running for cover…

However, nothing could be further from the truth when dealing with commodities. And over the past

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Portfolio manager Brian Hicks appeared on Bloomberg TV this week to discuss his outlook for oil and natural gas. After the weekly inventory report from the EIA showed a build in oil inventories from the prior week, Hicks reminded viewers to keep the big picture in mind when it comes to oil….

Oil fell below $65 a barrel on Wednesday, curbing a week of gains after data showing an unexpected rise in U.S. crude stocks suggested demand in the world’s top energy consumer was still weak.

The market awaited U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data due at 1430 GMT to see if they would confirm the trend from Tuesday’s American Petroleum Institute (API) figures.

U.S. crude oil for September delivery was down 90 cents at $64.71 a barrel by 1407 GMT, having fallen to a low of $63.76. London Brent crude for September lost 50 cents to $66.37.

The fall followed five days of rises that had pushed U.S. crude oil futures up more than 10 percent in just a week.

“The market has exhausted itself and needs to pause,” VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov said in a research note. “Today, all attention will be on the weekly U.S. fuel inventories.”

U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose unexpectedly

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Oil is trading well over $70 a barrel - at its highs for this year - and just off nine-month highs of $73.20, seen last October 21, oil has been steadily rising. Oil prices have risen nearly 100% since their $38 a barrel lows seen last January.

Unfortunately - at a time when consumers can’t afford a wallet drain - retail gasoline prices across the United States have risen to $2.55 a gallon on average, and over $3.00 a gallon in places like California.

As you drive by the gas station and see the now familiar price changes - sometimes by the hour - you might wonder what’s really affecting the price you pay…

Investors, of course, want to know if there’s a good way to play the price moves. Let’s take a look at the two biggest drivers of oil prices and ways you can play its movements.

Oil Prices Rise As Production

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 8, 2009 - Zacks.com releases the list of companies likely to issue earnings surprises. This week's list includes National Semiconductor (NSM) and The Talbots Inc. (TLB). To see more earnings analysis, visit http://at.zacks.com/?id=3207.

Every day, Zacks.com makes 4 stock picks available, free of charge. To see them, go to http://at.zacks.com/?id=3567.

The Week's Events

S&P 500 members Brown Forman (BF.B), National Semiconductor (NSM) and Pall Corporation (PLL) headline what will be a very light earnings calendar. Only 37 companies are confirmed to report.

On the economic front, the Fed will release its periodic Beige Book on Wednesday afternoon. The next morning we will get May retail sales numbers from the Commerce Department.

Tuesday: April wholesale inventories Wednesday: Fed Beige Book, April trade deficit, May treasury budget, ...

S&P 500 members Brown Forman (

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Stock markets came under pressure over the past few days as skepticism crept in that economic green shoots could be withering. On top of that, fears that the the US could be facing a credit rating downgrade (are the rating agencies now relevant again?) also caused losses for the US dollar and bonds.

These issues, together with another dose of discussion about the repayment of TARP funds, featured prominently in this week’s video clips. Commentators included in the selection below include James Galbraith, Jim Bianco, Robert Shiller, Sam Stovall, Bill Gross, David Rosenberg, Jim Rogers and Steve Leuthold.

The compilation kicks off with a top-quality interview with James Galbraith, saying that the banks can hardly lose but the rest of us aren’t so lucky, and concludes with the “American Casino” movie trailer.

Yahoo Finance, Tech Ticker: Galbraith - banks can hardly lose “Big banks have raised billions since the stress tests and policymakers

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Crude oil inventories are 'bursting at the seams' as record amounts of unused oil are being put in storage around the world, threatening to flood the market; Goldman Sachs has predicted that storage capacity may be full by June.  Developing a 'southern corridor' for gas transit by increasing ties with Iraq and Turkey will be a priority at an EU European and Central Asian countries summit this week.  The ailing US steel industry has beseeched Washington to re-enforce trade laws concerning foreign dumping and also said that climate change laws will have a deleterious effect upon domestic steel manufacturers.  China will invest $293 billion in the alternative energy sector from now through to 2020 and is planning a 'stimulus package' to more than double the output of alternative energy target for 2020.  The world's second biggest energy consumer ...