Oil is a hot topic. Even when I was five my mother always moaned about how much gas prices had gone up. Before I got my first car, I was already an expert at locating the cheapest gas stations. So I felt particularly betrayed that oil prices didn’t move down much further like I predicted they would here. But listen, I don’t like losing. So when I realized was wrong, I decided to look at a chart of the Light Crude Oil Contracts ($WTIC) and see what it told me.

When it comes to the oil markets, volatility is the name of the game. After seeing prices of nearly $150 a barrel last summer, oil prices have dropped to about $45 a barrel. Will prices move higher anytime soon? 

It’s hard to believe now, but crude oil was under $20 a barrel back in 2002. The U.S. economy was weak, and Chinese demand hadn’t entered overdrive yet.