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Submitted by Nick Cunningham via OilPrice.com,

Since February, major investors have predicted that oil prices were poised for a huge rally. Hedge funds and money managers piled into bets on rising oil prices, going long on the crude rally.

Short sellers were squeezed, and the stampede become too much for many, resulting in a large liquidation of shorts. The short selling drove the rally, increasing oil prices by about 50 percent since early February.

Three weeks ago, in the aftermath of the initially disappointing market reaction to the ECB's lack of further NIRP euphoria which sent stocks (at first) lower, various technicians came out with calls that the bear market rally is over, perhaps most notably Evercore ISI's Rich Ross who said "My Bullish tactical call is over. While we have repeatedly highlighted 2030 as our upside target, the rapid post ECB reversals in the cross asset technicals dictates that we abandon our tactical view at this time in favor of a far more defensive posture.

Following last night's API-reported near-expectations build in crude, DOE reports a smaller-than-expected 2.3mm build (against expectations of a 3.1mm build) and draws in Cushing, Gasoline, and Distillates. Oil prices surged on this. Production is more in focus now as it has fallen 9 of the last 10 weeks to its lowest since Nov 2014.  Crude prices dropped pre-data, then spiked,. but are struggling to maintain gains.

Of course, crude is soaring on the heels of Yellen's dove-tardiness.

API Details:

In the past three months, former Dallas Fed president (before he was replaced with a former Goldman M&A banker) and current Barclays senior advisor, has not minced his words when it comes to his ongoing criticism of the Fed.

Back in January Fisher said (what even Liesman has now suggested) that "We Frontloaded A Tremendous Market Rally" and there is "No Ammo Left", followed by a second appearance earlier this month when he said that the Fed "Injected Cocaine And Heroin Into The System To Create A Wealth Effect."

BlackRock Inc. have joined Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO) in recommending inflation linked bonds and gold, warning costs are poised to pick up and there is a growing risk of inflation.

“We like inflation-linked bonds and gold as diversifiers” said New York-based BlackRock which is the world’s largest asset manager, managing $4.6 trillion, reported Bloomberg.