At the start of the new year, the drama keeps coming. Over the weekend, the United States launched an operation, directly apprehending Venezuela’s president and bringing him to the U.S. for trial; the speed of the action and the precision of the intelligence once again demonstrated America’s military capabilities. Although there are rumors that the operation went so smoothly because there was an insider, being able to secure an insider is itself a reflection of military strength. Since the incident both occurred and concluded over the weekend (many recent military operations share this style: short duration, clear objectives, and no sustained escalation in responses from either side), for financial markets it would likely be digested within the few hours from Monday’s open through the Asia

Two weeks ago, we discussed that WTI crude oil was trading within a range-bound market, making it suitable for selling weekly WTI put options below the prior low of $55 or holding a short WTI futures position combined with selling weekly put options to construct a covered put strategy for this environment. Investors without access to futures or options can consider energy or crude oil ETFs as an alternative.Bearish Crude Reports Trigger a Sharp Selloff: How to Use Options to Trade a Choppy Market？Since then, WTI crude oil has continued to oscillate and weaken, but it has not yet broken below the $55 level, confirming the effectiveness of the previous strategy. Recently, the price volatility has increased, and WTI crude

Ahead of OPEC’s monthly market analysis and the IEA’s annual energy outlook this week, WTI steadied after three straight up days, signaling a shift from chasing strength to waiting on new data. Traders are focused on Wednesday night’s OPEC release and the forthcoming IEA outlook.​ $WTI原油主连 2512(CLmain)$ Curve signalsThe WTI term structure has seen the spread between far-month and near-month contracts narrow markedly, a classic sign that inventories are moving from tight toward looser in the physical market. Since the October 20 bottom in WTI, far-month vs near-month spread have kept compressing, implying faltering buy interest in near-month and a supply backdrop shifting from tight to more ample. Throughout the year, worries about a “large sur