The Oil Battle Continues...

The market closed mixed today as oil rebounds despite a rising dollar. The only thing that stopped the market from closing decidedly lower today was a better than expected ex-auto retail sale. It is no surprise that auto sales is going to drop more than normal with gas at the pump this high due to higher crude oil prices. In fact, I construe this reduction in auto sales as a good thing! It signals a move down the demand curve that would certainly add pressure to crude oil prices. The full scale battle against crude oil has begun and has begun to show up in economic numbers. Clearly, crude oil cannot win this battle due to supply and demand relationship. I hope more investors see this point. On the technical front, the Dow has moved largely sideways and we would certainly like to see a clear resolution to upside soon before bearishness builds up again.