Did you see the price action this past Friday in Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)? Both stocks were down sharply even though oil was up on the day. Any intelligent investor took note of that and say "hmmm". If oil is up, in the very least both Chevron and Exxon should have been flat to positive.

Today (Monday) comes and oil tanks. Dropping around 3% on the day. The biggest drop since the start of August. So what happened here? Who was on the forefront of this drop in oil? How did they know on Friday to sell Chevron and Exxon?

 Ultimately, this happens far too often. Big institutions on options expiration Friday held the price of oil up, knowing it was going to collapse on Friday. They sold into average investors buying both those stocks. This price manipulation happens far too often and investors need to look for these divergences in the future. When something is weird (like XOM and CVX being down sharply when oil is up) take note and move to the sidelines. It is not worth the risk.

Ultimately, if institutions were selling Chevron and Exxon hard on Friday, it likely means there is a bigger pull back coming in oil than just today. Stay away from oil names in the coming weeks until a sharp oil correction occurs.

By Pro-Trader

Anthony Jackson