On the supply front, Nigeria’s president said the country’s state-owned oil company will take over operations in the Ogoni district of southern Nigeria from a Royal Dutch Shell joint venture. President Umaru Yar’Adua made the announcement after talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, saying that the move will “calm down” unrest among local residents.

Something astonishing happened yesterday…Oil trading was thin all day. The price barely moved. Then, in the very last hour, BOOM!

Gold and silver both sold off slightly in early Far East trading. But shortly after London opened, away they both went to the upside. However, once Hong Kong closed, a not-for-profit seller sold the rallies down.

Once they started going long on oil it was fairly easy to perpetuate the run… all they have to do is buy at the ask price and oil just keeps going up and up.

Both gold and silver did virtually nothing on Thursday until shortly after London opened. Then (just like Wednesday) a sell-off began in both metals which lasted until shortly after the Comex opened in New York.

The bull market in oil comes down to just two simple numbers: The world can’t produce more than 85 million barrels of oil per day. The world wants 87 million barrels of oil per day.

“Time to sell oil and buy shares,” pronounces The Sunday Times headline. Merrill Lynch reckons the commodities sector is the most overheated it has been since ‘73. All things farming is trendy too. Fertiliser stocks are the new dotcom and farmers are busy planting all available land.

Traders have a saying. “It’s not the news — it’s the reaction to the news.” The idea is to pay attention to what’s happening behind the scenes. If the news is good and the market goes down, that points to hidden weakness. But if the news is bad and the market goes up, that points to hidden strength.