Demand Jam Tuesday, September 07, 2010 by Phil Flynn of PFGBEST

Will disappointing holiday demand be the story or will a new wave of economic optimism generated by last week's better than expected jobs report make the headlines? Companies did add more jobs than expected as non-farm private payrolls actually rose by 67,000. Forget that, Chicken Little, maybe the sky isn’t falling after all but with jobs still far from a pace that will get us back to normal, I don’t think that there is reason to celebrate. I think the market may slip into a negative mode. Did the Labor Day holiday bail us out on the demand side?

According to the Energy Information Agency heading into the Labor Day holiday weekend, U.S. retail gasoline prices fell three in a row with an average price of $2.68 per gallon which was the lowest level of the 2010 peak summer driving season and the second lowest price at this point in the past five summers. Still not even that may save the demand side of the equation. With storms battering up and down the East Coast, demand for gasoline was most likely impacted negatively. We are in the heart of the shoulder season and demand will continue to be very weak. We still maintain a bearish bias but still recommend playing the ranges.

The storms in the Atlantic never seem to end. There are 3 tropical waves that currently have about a 30% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone. At this time the storms do not seem to be a threat still they will bear watching.

What the bears really need to do is watch the Fox Business Network and the bulls should join in too. If you don’t get it you need too! You also need to sign up for my daily energy report and my daily buy and sell points on all of the major commodities. Just call me 800-935-6487 or email me at pflynn@pfgbest.com. 

 

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About the author

Phil Flynn is Vice President, Energy Analyst and General Market Analyst with PFGBEST (www.PFGBEST.com). Phil is one of the world's leading energy market analysts, providing individual investors, professional traders and institutions with up-to-the-minute investment and risk management insight into global petroleum, gasoline and energy markets. Phil's market commentary, fundamental and technical analysis, and long-term forecasts are sought by industry executives, investors and media worldwide.

Through hundreds of media interviews, Phil Flynn and PFGBEST have become familiar names in living rooms and boardrooms worldwide. The world's print, broadcast and online media have come to rely on Phil's timely and animated forecasts and analysis.

Media highlights include: The President of the United States, Bloomberg, ABC, CBS, NBC's "Today Show" and "Nightly News with Tom Brokaw", CNBC, CNN/ CNNfn, FOX's "O'Reilly Factor", PBS's "The Newshour with Jim Lehrer" and "Nightly Business Report", MSNBC's "The News with Brian Williams", Wall Street Journal Report, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Investor's Business Daily, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Associated Press, The Toronto Globe & Mail, Houston Chronicle, Futures Magazine and National Public Radio.

Phil's daily market analysis can be viewed at www.PFGBEST.com. He has been featured on MarketWatch.com, ino.com and futuresource.com.

Phil's commitment to and experience in futures trading is documented in two books, The Mind of a Trader (Financial Times/Pitman,1997), and Trading Online (publisher, date), both by Alpesh B. Patel. Phil is a lifelong resident of Illinois. He attended Daley College in Chicago before beginning his career on the trading floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.