More on Iran's threats and a look at oil

Don't get caught up in a headline

Some more on the headline that I put out a little earlier:

"Iran will respond with equal countermeasures if America attempts to block its oil exports."

With the two nations already having what can be described as a stretched relationship, things certainly aren't looking like improving any time soon.

My opinion on what's going on here, is similar to the North Korean charade that we saw publicly play out and then slip quietly back into silence. Both leaders can't afford to actually do anything that will lead to violence and they're just playing out a public slanging match to look tough for their own people.

The muted oil market reaction seems to agree with me:

Speaking of retesting broken trend lines though...

That is a good example of what I was talking about in the USD/JPY technicals blog which I've linked to above. Where even after levels are broken, they're still often respected on the other side.

Oil has been turning bearish on OPEC supply battles between Saudi Arabia and ironically Iran, for a while now. Don't get caught up in a headline.