And now, we’re entering a period of rather narrow trading in oil prices. I continue to see the price of crude slowly move up in what I’ve called a “ratcheting” pattern here before. What that means is that the overall price trend points in a single direction (in this case up), but there are occasional moves the other way. Now, as I write this late on Tuesday morning, WTI (West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark crude rate for futures contracts written in New York) sits at $50.42 a barrel, down marginally by $0.18. WTI did succumb to some profit taking yesterday after an exceptionally strong run up 12.2 percent for the month through September 28. Brent (the other, and more widely used, global benchmark set daily in London) has had a similar performance – currently at $56.08, virtually flat for the day, after profit taking yesterday that followed from prices […]