Commentary by Eric Wilder – Crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled at $63.20 on the first day of trading for 2006.  This is the highest price reached since October 18, 2005.

Marketers are keeping a close watch on both the weather and crude oil stocks.  A drop or rise in either the temperature or inventories usually results in an upward or downward spike in prices and wary traders are keeping their fingers on the buy/sell button.

Since there is no significant news concerning either the weather or inventories, today’s closing price likely reflects the market’s outlook that crude oil will remain above $60 per barrel, at least for the foreseeable future.

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