Oil Hits $80 a Barrel; Oil ETFs on Fire

Futures-based oil exchange traded funds (ETFs) United States Oil (USO) and PowerShares DB Oil (DBO) are up on the news that crude oil stockpiles fell more than analysts had expected, worries about OPEC supplies and a tropical storm brewing in the U.S. Gulf. In fact, USO rose to an intraday record today. The next-month October light, sweet crude oil contract rose to $80 a barrel, beating Tuesday’s record for a front-month oil contract of $78.23, according to Matt Chambers for The Wall Street Journal. Currently, USO is up 14.3% year-to-date. DBO is up 4.6% for the last three months, having launched in January.