European update – Oil, earnings, gold, bitcoin

What crazy times we live in

Stock markets are back in the red on Tuesday afer Wall Street endured a shaky start to th week and oil left everyone gobsmacked as it ventured into uncharted territory.

Oil clearly stole the show on Monday as WTI not only ventured into negative territory for the first time ever, it did so in style, plunging hundreds of percent to minus $40 a barrel. The May contract plunged as traders panicked at the prospect of taking delivery of something that had nowhere to go.

WTI Crude Futures

Source – CME Group

The very idea of someone paying someone else $40 to take oil off their hands is utterly ludacrous and yet, indicative of the crazy times we’re living in. Just for some perspective, six years ago WTI was trading around $100 a barrel. At the time of writing, it’s trading at a more modest minus $7.45, who knows where it will finish.

It does make you wonder what’s to come for the June contract. It’s hardly going to be immune…