• Crude oil is selling off today on a combination of growth fears and growing inventories, with WTI entering bear market territory today
• WTI crude touched $50.68 late today, down well over 20% from its peak in April of over $66
• Brent Crude traded below $60 today, touching $59.65, before recovering somewhat to just over $60

WTI Crude Future Price YTD

Source: Bloomberg

• Today’s weakness comes in the wake of weak ADP jobs data that fuels growth fears and inventory data that came well above expectations
  • Read more on jobs data: Paucity of Positions: ADP data today shows fewest new jobs added in May since 2010
• US total petroleum inventories grew by 22 million barrels, the biggest jump in since 1990
• Inventories swelled due to a jump in imports and record production
• The US set another oil production record this month, producing 12.4 million barrels
• Weak manufacturing PMI around the globe fuel fears of lower crude demand
  • Read more on PMI readings: Battle Scars: US Manufacturing PMI unexpectedly tanks in May, lowest since October 2016, as trade war rages
• The continued weakness in oil prices makes analysts believe that OPEC will extend production cuts when it meets next in Vienna next month
• The weakness is also being fed but a huge reduction in speculative bets on oil, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission reports that bullish bets on oil dropped to 5-to-1 from an April high of 14-to-1