Brent prices have reached, for the short term, a peak. The Atlantic basin commodity has topped out at $128.40 and is now pulling back to the first support level of $120. The trigger for the expected retracement appears to be the US dollar.

Brent prices tend to trade in the opposite direction to the US$. And the Big dollar is beginning to rise again (Chart 1). The currency bounced off of the $0.782 support line in February and is now advancing to a target of $0.805.

Models suggest that Brent should decline this month and find support between $119-$120.

The longer term outlook for the commodity is still for higher price levels. Brent is trending along with global equity markets which are expected to continue advancing in 2012 (Chart 2).

Bottom line: The downward movement in Brent should be brief. With world consumption increasing and anticipated to reach an all time high this year, Brent should advance up to the next target of $148 by year-end.

Investment approach: The natural resource has broken out of a multi-month consolidation in early February. The movement in March is just the first pullback within a longer term increase. Energy sector securities and oil ETFs should respond positively to the advance in Brent this year. However, investors may wish to wait until late March or early April before adding new energy related securities to their portfolios.

By Donald W. Dony, FCSI, MFTA
www.technicalspeculator.com

COPYRIGHT © 2012 Donald W. Dony
Donald W. Dony, FCSI, MFTA has been in the investment profession for over 20 years, first as a stock broker in the mid 1980's and then as the principal of D. W. Dony and Associates Inc., a financial consulting firm to present. He is the editor and publisher of the Technical Speculator, a monthly international investment newsletter, which specializes in major world equity markets, currencies, bonds and interest rates as well as the precious metals markets.

Donald is also an instructor for the Canadian Securities Institute (CSI). He is often called upon to design technical analysis training programs and to provide teaching to industry professionals on technical analysis at many of Canada's leading brokerage firms. He is a respected specialist in the area of intermarket and cycle analysis and a frequent speaker at investment conferences.

Mr. Dony is a member of the Canadian Society of Technical Analysts (CSTA) and the International Federation of Technical Analysts (IFTA).

Donald W. Dony Archive

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in

The Market Oracle is a FREE Financial Markets Forecasting & Analysis web-site.
(c) 2005-2024 MarketOracle.co.uk (Market Oracle Ltd) - Market Oracle Ltd asserts copyright on all articles authored by our editorial team and all comments posted. Any and all information provided within the web-site, is for general information purposes only and Market Oracle Ltd do not warrant the accuracy, timeliness or suitability of any information provided on this site. nor is or shall be deemed to constitute, financial or any other advice or recommendation by us. and are also not meant to be investment advice or solicitation or recommendation to establish market positions. We do not give investment advice and our comments are an expression of opinion only and should not be construed in any manner whatsoever as recommendations to enter into a market position either stock, option, futures contract, bonds, commodity or any other financial instrument at any time. We recommend that independent professional advice is obtained before you make any investment or trading decisions. By using this site you agree to this sites Terms of Use. From time to time we promote or endorse certain products / services that we believe are worthy of your time and attention. In return for that endorsement and only in the cases where you purchase directly though us may we be compensated by the producers of those products.