Crude in Brief

For two days Brent Crude has been trading above its sister figure on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Should it persist, it represents a return to the historical norm the two benchmarks have deviated from for months. This could indicate that crude has finally bottomed out and will begin trending upward for the first time since July. While some will attribute Brent’s new found strength to today’s announcement of an OPEC production cut, wise investors will recognize that the Cartel has demonstrated poor quota discipline – a trend whose reversal is unlikely.