Following an extreme drop from the 53 level and clear demand in the 43-46 area, along with a weakening DX yet likely rate hikes later this year, ongoing oversupply, yet continued promises form OPEC to meet the agreed upon cuts, I just do not see a catalyst midterm for a break up or down form the current range. 45.62-50.37 is a range created in '09, a swap zone created between harsh supply during the economic crisis and demand following the initiation and strengthening of QE in '09. This range has been somewhat of a median range for the past couple of years as longer term supply/demand is being realized.
Anyhoo.... I believe the main meat of the coming range will be roughly the .25-.75 levels of this range. This is not a specific trading plan, just a hypothetical scenario for sideways ranging with supply kicking in around 49 and demand around 47, please see the chart for specifics. Upthrusts towards the top of the overall range near 50.4 would not surprise me. If... this comes to fruition and prices see a couple of full swings int the range, 47-49 offer 200 ticks, and 2 full swings in the range would offer 800 ticks. It's possible that none of this plays out but again, I just do not see a catalyst short term for a larger break up or down.
If this range plays out, 4-8 weeks would not surprise me.
The stagger marks: if playing multiple positions, a portion are held from supply when shorting for the entire range and a portion for staggering are bought and resold at each line if it offers a pullback and vice versa for demand on the way back up. A simpler stagger method would be to just close half positions at the 48 level in either direction or to just pick your best risk/reward in either the supply or demand zone and trade the entire range.
Hopefully this made sense, if not, all questions and comments are welcome.
I wil add a couple chart over the next few days to show where the original 45.6-50.36 range was created in '09 as well as a Sept-Nov 2015 range that I think prices are ranging in the upper half of (43.85-49.55; I am specifically looking at the 47.04-49.55 portion of that range)
Good trading all!