Crude higher on the day
The looming hit and shutdowns from Hurricane Laura have given crude a lift today. WTI closed up 73-cents to $43.35. That's near the $43.57 high of the day.
The storm is likely to grow into a major hurricane and has shut down most of US offshore production along with gulf coast refineries.
The high of the day was just shy of the Aug high of $43.52 and that's a key level to watch in WTI. The bigger level that I'm watching is $46.10 in Brent crude. It also finished at a closing high today but needs to get above the 200dma and Aug high of $46.23.
Oil has been languishing around these levels for weeks but the trend has been gently higher. This looks like it could be a true break but you have to be careful in hurricane season because the whipsaws and fake breaks can be brutal.
