ALERT: JOBS NUMBER HAS WHITE HOUSE IN PANIC.
 
PETROLEUM MARKET

The parade of the Administration's economic policymakers on weekend public affairs programming was intended to downplay the Department of Labor's report on non-farm payrolls last week. It had the opposite effect, showing the fear the White House has that the economy is spinning out of control less than 18 months until the election. The "Arab Spring" is looking more and more like anarchy that will allow radical jihadists to gain control of formerly moderate countries, and with Yemen's president injured in one clash and departing for Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, the conflict is creeping closer to the oil fields. OPEC meets tomorrow where quotas are expected to be left unchanged. Most importantly though, there is growing skepticism around the world that economic growth can be contained. This can only have a negative effect on oil prices. In fact, 98.00 could be breached today.
 
 
TECH TALK

Crude oil's choppy sideways trading continued last week and stayed in range of 94.63 and 104.60. The bias remains neutral until this zone is breached. However, more inconclusive trading could still be seen but even in case of another recovery, we'd expect upside to be limited by 104.60 resistance. The decline from 114.83 is still underway and a break of 94.63 will open the way to 90.00, more for psychological reasons than anything else.  A rebound will target the old high of  114.83. .
 
 
NATURAL GAS

Gas is holding on to the lion's share of Thursday's gains despite DOE's contention that gas  production  averaged 64.8 bcf/day in March, the highest monthly total since 1973. Growing skepticism about the domestic economy's sustainability should combine to push prices lower. Even with the paltry rise of only 83 bcf last week, total gas in storage stood at over 2.1 Tcf. Even though the total has dipped below averages, it it still ample, particularly given the possibility of the economy returning to recession. As the nationwide heat wave subsides expect successive weeks inventory reports to closer to historic averages.
 
 
TECH TALK

Despite posting a new high above 4.85 for this particular move, the market appears to be losing upward momentum. There is an active buy signal with the settlement well above the moving averages, and some front end strength is apparent in the trading above today's support level of 4.732, so far. Still, the lower highs over the last couple of sessions point to the waning strength, but the break of 4.729 resistance has turned the bias to the upside, where it remains; further gains will be harder to come by.
 

source: KilduffReport.Com