Commodity Blog

Crude oil rose today as another hurricane threatens US off-shore oil platforms. Hurricane Sandy may become even stronger that the previous hurricane, Isaac. In fact, Sandy may become the strongest hurricane that hit the US coast in 100 years.

Signs of economic growth in the United States added to bullish momentum of crude. US economic growth of 2 percent was above already optimistic expectations. University of Michigan reported that consumer confidence improved this month:

Overall, consumers were more confident about economic prospects in October than any other time during the past five years.

Yet today’s gain was small compared to the losses that oil made this week. Traders are still worried as Europe cannot resolve its problems. And it looks like the European politicians returned to their favorite occupation — kicking the can down the road.

Crude oil (light sweet) was up from $85.60 to $86.11 per barrel on NYMEX today. Brent crude climbed $1.06 (0.98 percent) to $109.55 on ICE.

If you have any questions and comments on the commodities today, use the form below to reply.