All eyes are on the oil futures market today. As governments and industries across the globe adjust for drastically lower oil prices, investors are anxious to see how the crude market will react to the growing conflict in the Mid-East.

So far today, crude prices have jumped by near double-digit proportions, creating at least a temporary layer of support around the $40 per barrel level. As tensions increase along the Gaza Strip and Israel threatens with a strong and sustained ground attack, futures traders have all the ammunition they need to send prices higher… at least temporarily.

For fast-moving investors, the action has created a trading opportunity. Shares of the world’s largest oil producers opened higher thanks to a jump in crude prices. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) is up by just under two percent. Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and BP (NYSE:BP) are up by similar proportions.

A move of one

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We've made a couple of very good trades on Baidu.com (BIDU) since we've jumped back in the past month - despite a poor chart; similar charts in Apple and Research in Motion - none of these stocks are really acting well during this period of calm in the market. (Apple acting very poorly in fact, RIMM saved by an earnings report but still nothing to get excited about) I want to focus our energy on stocks that have used this type of calm in the market to regain key moving averages and cut out names that have not. Baidu.com is one of the latter - we sold most of it last week hoping that ...

Highlighted stocks include: Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (...

AP Interview: OPEC head predicts output cuts Alfred de Montesquiou, Associated Press Writer Saturday December 6, 2008, 8:33 am EST

OPEC head predicts ’surprise’ in oil output cuts, hints they may be deep

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Oil markets should brace for a surprise decision on output cuts when OPEC meets Dec. 17, the cartel’s president said Saturday, suggesting that reductions could be deeper than expected.

“A consensus has formed for a significant reduction of production levels” by the 14-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC President Chakib Khelil told The Associated Press.

The OPEC head would not discuss how deep the output cut would be, but said it could be “severe,” and noted that some analysts are predicting cuts of as much as 2 million barrels per day.

An output decision that startles markets would help bolster plunging oil rates, Khelil said.

“The best way is to surprise them,” he said. “I hope it (the

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In the energy market Tuesday, oil touched a 22-month low at $53.96 but then edged higher, with crude for December delivery closing at $54.39/barrel, down 56 cents. Gasoline for December delivery dropped 3.8 cents, to $1.1386/gallon.

The average U.S. price for gallon of regular gasoline at the pump now stands at $2.068, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report, down more than $1 from the year-ago level of $3.095.

Crude’s precipitous fall is having an effect in the field, says Charles Perry, president of Perry Management, who says that, “With the decrease in oil prices … we are now seeing a drop in active drilling rigs, and some are being stacked … Truth is, several of the drilling prospects are no longer economical, and plans to drill them have been shelved. Same is true in the gas producing areas.”

Perry added that, “When an oil company leases a drilling block, the usual

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The Fed’s first credit crisis lawsuit… who’s suing and why, AmEx, Fannie Mae unload more financial follies… government “fixes” problem with more taxpayer dollars, Chris Mayer with a credit crisis byproduct (and opportunity) that could affect the entire world, China announces big stimulus plan… so why did commodities fall? A hefty chink in Dubai’s armor, Plus, Dan Amoss with a once-favored investment theme due to be back in the spotlight soon

Here’s a curious development that may be worth watching: Bloomberg is suing the Federal Reserve.

Last week, we took a look at the Fed’s bulging $2 trillion balance sheet. And if you’re a long-suffering 5 Min. reader, you know our futile recounting of the weekly Fed lending programs… all the abbreviations and acronyms: TAF, TSLF, PDCF, CPFF, TARP, etc.

Well, the folks at

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Vladimir Putin has tried to reassure consumers by insisting that his praise of relations with Egypt does not hail the creation of an energy cartel, although Russia is meeting with Iran and Qatar today to discuss mutual natural gas interests. Putin insists that the meeting’s focus is supply, not price. ‘Energy producers, as well as consumers, have the right to — and in my view must — coordinate their decisions, exchange information and do their best to ensure uninterrupted hydrocarbon supplies on global markets,’ he said. Gazprom has announced that it expects consumer gas prices to drop in 2009. Its joint venture with German company Wintershall has released figures for its expected first-year output. In response to demands from oil producers, Russia may overhaul the way its oil companies are taxed. As the price of oil drops to ...

Don’t expect oil prices to remain at these low levels for long, says Byron King. Demand weakness for crude is temporary. And oil-producing nations cannot sustain their own economies unless oil prices are close to $100 a barrel. Byron says it could be time for investors to slowly build up a position in oil service stocks.

This from Whiskey & Gunpowder:

Along with the market decline, the price of oil has fallen. It’s down 50% within three months. Back when oil hit $147 per barrel in July, I said that the price “ought” to be in the range of $100-110, with the possibility of a drop into the $90s. That’s what the fundamentals told me back then.

Most of the decline in oil price from $147 down to about $100 was directly related to the strengthening of the dollar. So the oil price slide in July, August and

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Dow rallies 300 points ahead of Obamamania, Can the President Elect orchestrate a miraculous market Turnaround? Part one of your “chicken long” ideas and plenty more…

The people of the United States of America prayed for a political messiah. Now that he has stepped forth, we are left to wonder, what next?

Politics is not really our beat here at the Rude Awakening, so we won’t be offering up any four-legged sacrifices for the promise of financial salvation. In the harsh light of economic reality, miracles are hard to come by, even for those claiming to posses the kind of optimistic foresight that defies rational explanation.

A cursory glance toward the economic horizon reveals some perilous obstacles ahead. As we walk through the valley of 5-year market lows, the shadow of the death of consumer spending looms particularly large. American consumers, upon the backs of whom almost two-thirds of the world’s

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Oil prices slid below $75 a barrel yesterday (Wednesday) skidding to a new 12-month low and increasing the chances that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will cut production at its next meeting on Nov. 18.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell $4.47, or 5.68%, to settle at $74.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The price has now tumbled nearly 50% since peaking at a record-high of $147.27 on July 11. Gas prices have followed suit dropping 25% since breaching $4 a gallon in July. A gallon of regular gas fell by about 4 cents a gallon overnight to a new national average of $3.125, auto club AAA reported.

The credit crisis has emaciated countries around the world, sparking fears that a severe global recession is just beginning to set in. The outlook for energy has darkened substantially as a result.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) lowered its forecast

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