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ETF Spotlight On Oil
http://www.tigersharktrading.com/articles/16855/1/ETF-Spotlight-On-Oil/Page1.html
By Price Headley
Published on 10/5/2009
 

It has been a nice two-week run for crude oil, which has benefited from some recent weak data.


ETF Spotlight On Oil

It has been a nice two-week run for crude oil, with black gold benefiting from some recent weak data. Resting atop last week's list of the best-performing ETFs is the United States Oil Fund (USO). This ETF reflects the performance of the spot price of West Texas Intermediate light, sweet crude oil. It's been a good week all around for natural resources, as oil, gasoline, and heating oil funds gained more than 6 percent apiece.

While the recent run higher is nice, there reason to believe that the rally could be short. The ETF has hit overhead resistance from its 10- and 20-week moving averages. Further resistance lurks overhead in the form of the 39 level, which USO has not finished a week atop in the calendar year. Also notice how the USO follows a general pattern set by the S&P 500 Index (SPX), which his indicated by the yellow line.

USO Weekly Chart with SPX


The technical news isn't all bad for the USO, as it has some room to run before it hits any long-term resistance -- that is if the stock can break the 39 level. With USO's 20-month moving average dropping through the 60 region, there is plenty of space between the trendline and the shares.

USO Monthly Chart with SPX
 

Price Headley is the founder and chief analyst of BigTrends.com.