Last week Oil continued its ascent into record territory. Just shy of $90 per barrel the much talked about $100 per barrel isn't too far off. Strangely the price still hasn't topped too many headlines, perhaps because prices still sit below £1.00 per litre in the UK. If that dam bursts, UK consumers could be in for a shock says Betonmarket's Michael Wright.

The latest surge has taken prices deep into uncharted territory, nearing the inflation-adjusted peak of 1980. There are fears that this could be one step too far for an already creaking world economy.

Last week we saw the first sign that the US government worries were not baseless, with the release of the consumer inflation report. This showed that the Consumer Price Index increased by 0.3 percent last month as energy costs (which had been falling for three months) posted an increase and food prices jumped by the largest amount since June.

The CPI increase was slightly above the 0.2 percent that economists had been expecting. Core inflation, which excludes energy and food, was up a more moderate 0.2 percent, in line with expectations. This is what the FOMC was mostly worried about when they cut interest rates the last time, as inflation increases at a higher pace when interest rates are low.

While there are many reasons for the increase in energy costs, OPEC blames speculators for driving up the price. Some traders concur, noting the flood of cash now chasing returns after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates and added billions of dollars of temporary reserves to the banking system. Unprecedented weakness in the U.S. dollar has also pushed investors into commodities at the start of the fourth quarter, when some investors will have reviewed allocations.

All this commodity positive investments has been a nice bonus for the USD/CAD (US Dollar/ Canadian Dollar) traders who were short. Being "short" means that traders were predicting that the US Dollar would weaken against the Canadian Dollar. The pair broke below the 1.00 mark in October, and some analysts see the pair trading as low as 95 cents by the end of the year.

In the foreign exchange circles the USD/CAD pair is referred to as the commodities pair, and for a reason, if you overlap the oil price chart and the gold chart with the USD/CAD you will see a very nice correlation.

With the oil outlook being bullish for the near term, there is a good chance that the USD will continue to weaken compared to the CAD. Betonmarkets.com allows you to take advantage of this, by buying a no touch bet on the USD/CAD. This rewards you if a certain level is never touched. A no touch with a 26 day term and barrier 400 pips above current spot could yield 8% ROI. This means the USD could strengthen slightly, flat line or fall further against the Canadian Dollar and you win.

• THE END -

Contact Details:

Email: editor@my.regentmarkets.com

Tel: +44 1624 678 883

Url: Betonmarkets.com & Betonmarkets.co.uk

Address:

Regent Markets (IOM) Limited

3rd Floor, 1-5 Church Street

Douglas, Isle of Man

IM1 2AG

Betonmarkets.com is the leading fixed-odds financial betting website. The website has processed over 10 million bets since inception in 2000, and generates annual turnover in excess of US$ 100 million. Betonmarkets offers a wide range of fixed-odds financial bets on forex rates, stock indices, and international stocks.

Betonmarkets is operated by the Regent Markets Group of companies. Regent Markets is affiliated to the Regent Pacific Group, a Hong Kong-listed investment group. Regent Markets has offices in three countries, and holds bookmakers licenses in the Isle of Man, the UK, and Malta.

Fixed-odds financial betting offers particular advantages over other forms of financial betting and investments, such as limited risk, potentially high payouts, and unique market opportunities. Particularly popular is Betonmarket's Range Bet, which offers the opportunity to profit from a period of quiet market action.

Betonmarkets also offers the following bet types: the Bull/Bear bet, the One Touch bet, the No Touch bet, the Range and Expiry Range bets, the Double One Touch and Double No-Touch bets, and a variety of intraday bets. Contracts are available on foreign exchange rates, major stock indices, and stocks.

Fixed-odds bets are also known as binary options, binary bets, contingent claims, spot options, box options, clickoptions, and offer market participants a unique tool to profit from market movements.

BetOnMarkets Bet Types:

One Touch Bet: You would buy a one-touch bet if you believe the market will touch a given point at least once before the bet expires. In other words, a one-touch pays out, if at any time prior to expiration, the market touches or trades through the specified barrier. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE touches X between today and date T]

No Touch Bet: A no-touch bet is the opposite of the one-touch bet. You would buy a no-touch bet if you think the market will never reach a certain level within a specified range of time. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE does not touch X between today and date T]

Bull Bet: You would buy a bull bet if you believe the underlying security/index/currency pair will be higher than a certain evel (also referred to as the barrier level) on the maturity date. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE closes higher than X on date T]

Bear Bet: You would buy a bear bet if you believe the underlying security/index/currency pair will be lower than a certain level (also referred to as the barrier level) on the maturity date. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE closes lower than X on date T]

Expiry Range Bet: You believe that the market will be between two distinct levels (high and low) on the expiry date. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE closes between X and Y on date T]

Barrier Range Bet: You believe that the market will never touch two pre-determined barrier levels (high and low) before r on the date the bet expires. In other words, when you buy a barrier range you will win only if the market never touches the two barrier levels you have chosen. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE never touches X and Y between today and date T]

Double Touch Bet: You believe that the market will touch two pre-determined barrier levels (high and low) before or on the date the bet expires. In other words, when you buy a barrier range you will win only if the market touches both of the two barrier levels you have chosen. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE touches both X and Y between today and date T]

Up or Down Bet: You win if the market touches either of two pre-determined barriers before or on the date the bet expires. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE touches either X or Y between today and date T]

Double Up Bet: A Double Up bet pays two times the premium if the market rises above a given level between the time of purchase and the close of trading. It expires at the close of business on the day of purchase of the bet. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE closes above X between now and the close of trading today]

Double Down Bet: A Double Down Bet pays two times the premium if the market drops below a given level between the time of purchase and the close of trading. It expires at the close of business on the day of purchase of the bet. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE closes below X between now and the close of trading today]

Intraday Double Up Bet: Buy this bet to play a market rise between two given hourly market times today. You will have the possibility to set the starting hour of the bet and the ending hour of the bet, and you will win double your stake if the market follows your prediction. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE rises between the starting time hour and the expiry hour]

Intraday Double Down Bet: Buy this bet to play a market drop between two given hourly market times today. You will have the possibility to set the starting hour of the bet and the ending hour of the bet, and you will win double your stake if the market follows your prediction. Example: [Pays 100 if the FTSE declines between the starting time hour and the expiry hour]

Run Bets: These fun bets are over in the space of less than a minute; so you can make money in seconds. Here, you have to guess the last decimal digit of say, the USD/JPY (predict 3rd decimal place) after 5 ticks.