Oil Volatility: Not as Wild as You Think

It seems like every time you blink your eyes, the price of oil is either up or down $3 or $4 per barrel. While the big swings in price make it seem like the commodity is as volatile as ever, a historical look at its high/low spread highlights that it's not as wild as you would think.

Based on the 50-day average of the daily spread between its high and low price (in percentage terms), oil volatility is currently right about at the average of the last ten years. Since the price of oil is so high these days, the swings in dollar terms are bigger, but in percentage terms, it's no different than usual.

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Comments

[John Egan]

I really like this writing style.. No comment, just facts.. I know other people are looking for guidance, but it seems that on any issue, you can find someone writing whatever you want to hear anyways... Nice job..

Thx jegan ;-)

[paultaut]

Agreed...this is one of the few though...

For the most part, they like to make long term projections based on short term charts...

No clue as to what various patterns are...just "support/resisten... lines...flags, rounding tops/bottoms, cup with handle, diamonds, etc., no knowledge....

Measured moves? is that a waist line?

[cjct7]

Ill-timed article as crude is up 10 bucks in 2.5 trading days.