It's like a broken record day after day in the news we hear "crude oil prices struck a new high." Indeed again today crude oil jumped, nearly touching $120 a barrel before settling at $119.37. Think about that for a minute, crude oil at $120 a barrel. It really is amazing, and it isn't something one could have even thought possible as recently as a couple of years ago. Indeed this most recent surge that crude oil has taken over the last week or so is already starting to find its way to the pumps. The national average for unleaded gas right now is $3.54 per gallon and rising quite quickly. 
Each day I hear more and more strategists saying that crude oil cannot keep doing this, but each day it does. The run has been nothing short of amazing, and it shows no signs of slowing down. So has this move been because of the fundamentals of supply vs demand or is it because of speculative trading?
Some analysts and strategists have been saying that crude oil is setting up like the tech bubble of 2000 did, but I simply do not see that being the case. There is no denying that there is some speculation and momentum trades coming into the price of oil in the last few weeks, but there are certainly plenty of positives in the fundamental picture. Developing countries around the world have an ever-increasing need for oil, and overall oil demand is becoming far less dependent on the demand from the United States. In the past if the United States stopped consuming so much oil the price would likely suffer quite quickly, but now it seems there are plenty of other areas that will gobble up that supply that we decided to pass on.
I certainly think that the recent trade has gotten ahead of itself in the short-term, but I caution investors against betting on a long-term bear market in oil prices.
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