Crude @ 100$$$$

Bingo! Crude finally touched 100$!! This is something to go down into history books..
But after all the excitement and confusion, its time to think as to who did this trade.. Who was that guy, who made his mark in the history books as the trader @100$ /barrel.

Perhaps he just got bored of waiting for oil to pass the magic, but meaningless three-figure mark. Or perhaps he wanted a natty print-out for the office loo, a lasting memento of his moment in market history.

Regardless of motivation, it was a single small deal by this independent trader that on Wednesday pushed oil prices briefly to the unprecedented $100 a barrel level. And his name was...

Richard Arens.

Struck on the floor of Nymex at a hefty premium, about 50 cents, to prevailing prices, Arens who runs a brokerage called ABS, bought just 1,000 barrels of crude, the minimum allowed, from a colleague. The result was a divergence of the prices posted on Globex electronic screens at the exchange and through traders that work the floor – and widespread confusion.

Before the $100-a-barrel trade, oil prices on Globex were at $99.53 a barrel. Immediately after the trade, prices went down to about $99.40, suggesting a trading loss of $600 for Mr Arens.

Stephen Schork, a former Nymex floor trader and editor of the oil-market Schork Report, commented: “A local trader just spent about $600 in a trading loss to buy the right to tell his grandchildren he was the one who did it. Probably he is framing right now the print reflecting the trade...”

What a life!! I envy him.