Same data, different angle

I have a habit of checking out the oil price at least a couple of times each week.  Our economy is so tied to what a barrel of oil is trading at that I think it's important to watch the trends.  This is what the price of West Texas Intermediate has been doing for the last 6 months.


What story does this tell?  Would you be optimistic or pessimistic looking at this data set?  Do you see hope or concern?

I think it's pretty obvious that what we see is that oil has nestled around the $60 mark and stayed relatively close for almost three months.

Now, let's look at the same data set but pull it back six additional months.


What a difference a half year can make to a narrative.  The same data from two different vantage points tells a completely different story.  In looking at the second graph, you can more easily understand why vacancy rates have skyrocketed in Fort McMurray.


In this resource-based roller coaster ride, I'm still trying to understand why gas prices have crept back up to $1.20/litre is some locations?  It would be interesting to graph those changes and then overlay it with the change in the oil price.  I get the sense that the two might be slightly discordant.



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