Up over 90% for the year, the Direxion Daily S&P Oil & Gas Exp. & Prod. Bull 2X Shares (GUSH) has been a stellar performer, as oil prices have reached their highest level in eight weeks.
Energy has been on a tear thanks to rising oil prices. A year ago, an play on oil may have been seen a short-term rebound, but now it’s a rally with legs.
“Oil prices rose more than 1% on Wednesday, putting the contracts on track for their highest close in almost eight weeks, as U.S. crude exports plunged and on signs of a speedy economic recovery and upbeat forecasts for energy demand,” a Financial Post report said.
Those upbeat forecasts are also being echoed by energy analysts.
“The export (drop) is the bullish element keeping trade propped up,” said Tony Headrick, energy market analyst at CHS Hedging.
GUSH seeks daily investment results of 200% of the daily performance of the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index. The fund, under normal circumstances, invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowing for investment purposes) in financial instruments and securities of the index, ETFs that track the index, and other financial instruments that provide daily leveraged exposure to the index or ETFs that track the index.
More Upward Pressure from the Cyberattack
Oil and cyber attacks might appear uncorrelated on the surface, but the incident at the Colonial Pipeline proved otherwise. A cyber attack at the major U.S. fuel pipeline caused a power outage and caused gasoline shortage fears, which pushed oil higher.
“While the short-term risk is being played down, the market is still visibly shaken by the event, given the nature of the attack and the scale of the infrastructure,” said Rystad Energy’s oil markets analyst Louise Dickson.
“The market is now concerned about the likelihood of such an event being repeated and about the severity of future attacks.”
Meanwhile, consumers might be feeling the pain at the pump despite the recent re-start of the pipeline. Operators, however, are looking to make the pipeline fully operational again by week’s end.
“Following this restart, it will take several days for the product delivery supply chain to return to normal,” Colonial Pipeline said in a statement. “Some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions during the start-up period.”
“Colonial will move as much gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel as is safely possible and will continue to do so until markets return to normal,” the statement added.
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