It can tell you the current situation of the market by using its upper and lower band.

Whenever the market has low volatility, the bands will be narrow and whenever the market has high volatility, the bands will be wide.

Bollinger Bands Example

In this blog, I will not be going through the various sophisticated mathematical calculations for the individual tools as I find them totally useless as most forex platform that you are using is able to automatically help you plot them out.

Here is the structure of the Bollinger bands

1) The upper band - which is showing you the simple moving average + 2 x standard deviation

2) The lower band - which is showing you the simple moving average - 2 x standard deviation

3) The Simple Moving Average (SMA)

Bollinger Bands Explained

How to Setup Your Bollinger Bands

Personally, I always stick to the default setting for my Bollinger band which is the 20 days SMA and plus minus 2 x standard deviation for the upper and lower bands.

However you can also adjust the setting if you find the price constantly penetrating the upper or lower bands.

What Bollinger Band Can Do For You

The upper band usually indicates a resistance level while the lower band usually indicates a support level. If you take a close looks at your Bollinger band. You will find that the price usually bounce off the Bollinger band whenever it touches the upper or lower band.

With this observation, you can use the upper and lower bands as support and resistance when planning your trade.

Besides using the upper and lower bands as the support or resistance, you can also make use of Bollinger bands to help you measure the volatility of the market.

When the upper and lower bands are narrow, you are actually in a period of consolidation and when the bands are widely apart, you are in a period of strong price movement. In my next post, I will show you the various uses of forex bollinger bands in trading and how you can make full use of its feature to help you in your trading.

If you are interested to find out more about other indicators like the Forex MACD Indicator and how to trade MACD divergence, you can take a look them in this blog.

—

Kelvin is basically a full time forex trader. Before getting into the field of forex trading, he used to work as a process engineer in a multinational company. he was introduced to this field by one of his friend who had also quit from day job to be a full time trader today.

Please visit my website for more information.

E-Mail: forexkel@forexindicator.org
Website: http://www.forexindicator.org

So what is so simple about the moving average?

It is a visual tool that shows you the average historical value of the past x period. This allows you to have an understanding of the trend and the strength of the market.

When the moving averages are sloping UP, you are in an uptrend and when it is sloping DOWN, you are in a downtrend.

As for the strength of the market, you can make use of the gradient of the moving average to tell. If the MA has a steep gradient, this is usually a good indication that the current trend you are seeing is strong. However, if the gradient of the MA is very gentle, the trend you are seeing is pretty weak and there is no momentum in the trend.

Types of Moving Average

If you are serious about trading forex using the moving average, you must definitely spend sometime to learn the 2 type of moving averages that you can deplore.

Simple Moving Average: This is also known as SMA which is simply the calculating of the average value of the x candlesticks that you define. For example: if you want to plot a 20 SMA, what you are getting is in fact the average reading of the past 20 candlesticks.

Exponential Moving Average: This is also known as the EMA and the difference between this and the SMA is its consideration of the recency of the data in the calculation. For the calculating of the EMA, the more recent data will be given more weightage and this makes the EMA more dynamic and responsive to the market movement.

Comparison Between EMA & SMA

Personally, I prefer to use the EMA more than the SMA as it is more responsive which is more suitable for my trading plan. As can be seen from the figure above, you can see that the EMA moves faster than the SMA and thus it is more responsive to any price change. However, you can try them out and decide which one to use in your trading based on its performance.

In my next post, I will be going through with you how you can make use of moving average in forex trading.

If you are interested in other indicators like the forex MACD indicator or the forex bollinger bands, you can read them from my previous posts.

—

Kelvin is basically a full time forex trader. Before getting into the field of forex trading, he used to work as a process engineer in a multinational company. he was introduced to this field by one of his friend who had also quit from day job to be a full time trader today.

Please visit my website for more information.

E-Mail: forexkel@forexindicator.org

Website: http://www.forexindicator.org

In this post, I will be sharing with you some tips on how I trade forex using the moving averages.

First of all, I only use the exponential moving average (EMA) in my trading as I find it to be more dynamic and responsive to price movement compared to simple moving average (SMA).

SMA and EMA

Here are how you can make use of EMAs in your trading

1) As a Trend Identifier: The EMA is a good tool for identifying trend and I rely entirely on it to look at trend on all time frames. All you have to do is to plot 1 or 2 EMAs with setting like 100 or 200 and you will be able to look at the current trend of the market.

If your EMAs are all sloping downward, you are in a down trend and if your EMAs are all sloping upward, you are in an uptrend. (It is just that simple to use)

Up Trend

Down Trend

2) As a Strength Identifier: Other than being able to identify trend, you can make use of moving average to look at the strength of the trend.

There is no point in riding a trend that has no momentum and therefore the EMA is a good tool to check for momentum in the trend. All you have to do is to look at the gradient of the EMA, a steep gradient usually indicates a strong momentum in the trend while a gentle gradient usually indicate a lack of momentum in a trend.

Strong Momentum

Weak Momentum

3) As an Entry Signal: In order to use the EMA as an entry signal, you will need the help of either the double moving averages crossover or triple moving averages crossover.

Double Moving Averages Crossover - This is the plotting of 2 EMAs, a fast and a slow one. Whenever the faster EMA cuts above the slower EMA, it produces a BUY signal and when the faster EMA cuts below the slower EMA, it produces a SELL signal.

Bearish Crossover

Triple Moving Averages Crossover - This method is pretty similar to the double moving averages crossover except that it has 3 EMAs plotted instead of 2. I would say that this is more conservative as you need the faster EMA to cut through the other 2 EMAs to create a buy or sell signal.

Triple Moving Averages

However, I do not trade based on the crossover alone as I find them pretty risky at time.

I prefer to add some forex indicators like the MACD, Bollinger Bands and the Stochastic to confirm the signal before I enter my trade.

The above are some ways you can trade forex using the moving averages.

However it is better for you to add the use of other forex indicators to strengthen your trading strategy.

—

Kelvin is basically a full time forex trader. Before getting into the field of forex trading, he used to work as a process engineer in a multinational company. he was introduced to this field by one of his friend who had also quit from day job to be a full time trader today.

Please visit my website for more information.

E-Mail: forexkel@forexindicator.org
Website: http://www.forexindicator.org

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, known as the IRGC or Revolutionary Guard, is a military branch set up after the 1979 revolution to protect the regime and has become more ingrained in the Iranian economy particularly under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration.

In recent weeks, the Revolutionary Guard has declared that it can assume control of the energy industry if Westerners flee under the crush of coming U.S. sanctions. Over the last two-and-a-half decades, the powerful force has gradually moved into sectors like construction, energy and telecommunications, said Alex Vatanka, a scholar at the Washington-based Middle East Institute.

Given Iran's oil and gas reserves and the country's reliance on revenues from crude exports, "it's very logical for the IRGC's economic arm" to seek an even stronger footing in the energy sector as U.S. and United Nations financial penalties against firms operating in Iran pick up steam, Vatanka told OilPrice.com.

The IRGC has the "political muscle to push political contracts" through, but it is questionable whether the group is best-suited to coordinate these efforts on a domestic level, he said. "We know their intentions in the Iranian oil industry, and [local firms are] very often hesitant when they see IRGC involvement," he noted.

Foreign companies would be "equally, if not more hesitant, to deal with the IRGC" because the organization is at the forefront of any U.S. government or U.N. attempt to apply new sanctions, he said.

"So it really just raises the stakes for any foreign participant in these projects," Vatanka said.

The overriding challenge is whether a firm, domestic or otherwise, can ever have a "fair struggle with the IRGC, if I can put it this way," Vatanka explained. "They are politically so powerful that they can nullify, change terms and take the credit for anything that's done positively and claim it to be their own. And if you stand up to them, they would basically label you against the Islamic Revolution."

He said questions also linger about the kind of revenue-sharing the Revolutionary Guard would offer international companies.

And whether the Revolutionary Guard can even fulfill Iran's "very big intentions" in the gas sector remains to be seen, Vatanka said, noting "there's no evidence to suggest that they have, in any way or shape, invested technologically in energy. If it was about missiles, it would have been a totally different matter."

In March, Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi said the Islamic regime is seeking a $200 billion investment in oil, gas and refinery industries over the next five years.

Iran has only waning pools of oil but may become a "huge provider of natural gas on a global scale," Vatanka said.

Iran holds the world's third-largest proven oil reserves and the world's second-largest natural gas reserves, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. This includes the South Pars gas field, the "largest natural gas deposit in the world, which Iran shares with the state of Qatar," added Vatanka.

The Iranian oil industry has traditionally been aligned with "pragmatic conservatives," he added, but there has been a shift toward "principalists, the people around Ahmadinejad," particularly in "this pivotal" sector of the Iranian economy.

In April, Ahmad Ghalebani took over as head of the National Iranian Oil Co. from oil-industry veteran Seifollah Jashnsaz, according to Iranian press reports. Like the Iranian oil minister, Ghalebani does not hail from the oil industry, the reports state.

Regardless of the typical rhetoric emanating from Iran, the country has always had a "pretty well-oiled bureaucracy," but these "relatively new faces and voices" have spurred more uncertainty for foreign firms, Vatanka said.

Iran has pressured a number of firms to honor previous agreements or pull out of the country entirely. Iran recently gave a two-week ultimatum to Royal-Dutch Shell and Repsol of Spain to forge ahead with their involvement in projects related to the South Pars gas field or be replaced by local firms.

Around the same time, the regime also announced that it is awarding major gas contracts to Chinese, Malaysian and Indian firms for South Pars instead of Western firms widely regarded as frontrunners, according to Iranian news reports.

India is not likely to give up its investments in Iran "without considerable pressure" from the U.N., noted Robert Ebel, a senior adviser in the energy and national security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank. Not only does India have business interests in the country, Iran provides it with "over 400,000 barrels of oil a day," Ebel told OilPrice.com.

At the moment, India has proposed resuming talks with Iran on importing gas through a pipeline passing through Pakistan, according to Indian press reports.

China, which has a big interest in Iran as an oil supplier, is unlikely to be fully supportive of the United States and the U.N., Ebel said. About 430,000 barrels of oil move from Iran to China every day, he added. China, India and Japan probably account for half of all Iranian oil exports, Ebel noted.

On the weekend, the head of Brazil's energy regulator was reported as saying that his country could assist Iran with equipment and engineering if Iran offered drills to help Brazil in the exploration of deep-water oil.

Despite these holdouts, many firms have already caved into pressure and abandoned some of their investments as talk of sanctions builds, said Ebel.

Russia's Lukoil has stopped gas sales to Iran, while India's Reliance Industries will not renew a contract to import crude oil from Iran this year.

China and Japan are cutting crude-oil imports from Iran. Vitol, Glencore and Trafigura have all stopped their gas supplies to the country. And Shell also stopped selling gas to the regime.

At a congressional hearing last week, the U.S. Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee issued international firms a stark warning: "Either do business with Iran's $250 billion-a-year economy, or do business with America's $13-trillion economy, but you cannot do business with both."

The proposed U.S. legislation is known as the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act and will be tougher on firms than its predecessor, the Iran Sanctions Act. The revised law will pursue financial institutions and firms that do business in Iran's energy sector or help the regime build its refining capacity.

The Government Accountability Office, an arm of Congress, released a report during the hearing that found that seven of 41 companies previously identified as doing business with Iran received combined payments of nearly $880 million from the Defense Department. This includes $319 million to Repsol and $312 million to Total of France for the purchase of fuel.

Ultimately, the relationship between Iran and the international community will be tough to walk away from, Vatanka of the Middle East Institute told OilPrice.com. While Iran still needs Western technology to expand its energy industry, he said, large companies seeking growing markets will be hard-pressed to "totally look away and abandon Iran for good."

Source: http://oilprice.com/Geo-Politics/Middle-East/Growing-Revolutionary-Guard-Spells-Uncertainty-For-Oil-Investors-In-Iran.html

By Fawzia Sheikh for Oilprice.com who offer detailed analysis on Crude oil, Natural Gas, Geopolitics, Gold and most other Commodities. They also provide free political and economic intelligence to help investors gain a greater understanding of world events and the impact they have on certain regions and sectors. Visit: http://www.oilprice.com

Crude oil prices ended just above $70 a barrel on Friday after dipping below that threshold earlier in the week. The benchmark June contract for West Texas Intermediate settled at $68.01 before it expired on Thursday, after falling below $65 a barrel in intraday trading.

The decline from the $87+ a barrel reached earlier in the month is more than 20%, fitting some analysts' definition of a bear market. Continued weakness below $70 a barrel could send prices tumbling further, into the $50 range, some analysts said.

Passage of financial regulatory reform legislation in the Senate Thursday evening ended most of the uncertainty about how severe measures might be, giving a lift to financial stocks on Friday, and other markets along with them.

The benchmark July contract settled at $70.04 a barrel on Friday, down from its $70.80 close on Thursday, compared with the benchmark price of $71.61 a barrel a week ago.

A continued slide of the euro against the dollar and persistent worries about the fiscal situation of Greece and other European countries continued to roil markets during the week.

Concern about the impact of the euro crisis on global economic growth exacerbated the situation for stocks, leading to a loss of 3% in U.S. stocks on Thursday alone. An unexpected surge in the weekly U.S. jobless claims figures - claims were up 25,000 to 471,000 when experts had forecast a decline - further spooked the equities markets.

In a global flight to safety, investors sought refuge in U.S. debt securities, pushing down Treasury yields in spite of debate about the U.S. deficit. In late Friday trading, 10-year notes were yielding about 3.2% and 30-year bonds 4.1% — both at their lowest levels since last October. The 30-year bond yield actually dipped below 4% at one point.

Oil inventories continued to rise, according to the weekly report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, though less than forecast.

But the inexorable rise of stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma depot where Nymex oil is delivered continued to weigh on the benchmark contract. Stocks at Cushing rose another 917,000 barrels in the week, to a new record of 38 million barrels - which may be nearing full capacity according to some estimates.

Source: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Crude-Oil-Prices-Remain-Under-Pressure-After-Dipping-Below-$70-a-Barrel-in-Week.html

By Darrell Delamaide for Oilprice.com who offer detailed analysis on Crude oil, Natural Gas, Geopolitics, Gold and most other Commodities. They also provide free political and economic intelligence to help investors gain a greater understanding of world events and the impact they have on certain regions and sectors. Visit: http://www.oilprice.com

It does not get much more exciting than what we have seen in the past 2 months with the market topping in April and the May 6th mini market crash. This Thursday we saw panic selling which pushed the market below the May 6th low washing the market of weak positions.

For those of you who have been following me closely this year I am sure you have noticed trading has been a little slower than normal. This is due to the fact that the market corrected at the beginning of the year and we went long Feb 5th and again on Feb 25th. Since then the market rallied for 2 months and never provided another low risk entry point. In April the market became choppy and toppy and we eventually took a short position to ride the market down. Now were we are looking at another possible reversal to the upside.

Only a few trades this year which I know frustrates some individuals but if you step back and look at my trading strategy you will learn that we only need to trade a few trades a year to make some solid returns. I don't know about you but I would rather trade a few times a month and live life between trades. not trade all day every day getting bug eyed in front of the computer.

Ok enough of the boring stuff let's get into the charts.

SP500 - Stock Market Index Trading ETFs & Futures

The pullback in the broad market was expected but the mini crash on May 6th really through a wrench into things for us technical analysts. We don't really know the truth about what happened that day. was it just a simple error or was it a planned error for the US government to take a massive short position to move something in their favor quickly to generate MASSIVE gains? It leaves us technicians hanging wondering if that was a shift in trend from up (accumulation) to down (distribution)?

My thoughts are if the crash was truly an error then we will see months if not another year of higher prices. But if it was a planned sell off with banks moving to the sidelines then we are most likely headed into another bear market. Personally it does not matter what happens as big money will be made in either direction. Problem is if we do go into another bear market then the majority of individuals will lose capital as investor's portfolios get smaller and smaller. That will lead to a lot of depressed people.

In short, I am neutral on the stock market for the intermediate and long term. Once we have a few more months of price action only then will I have a plan for longer term investments. But on the short term time frame the market is screaming at me with extreme sentiment levels lining up on the stock market and gold.

The daily chart of the SPY - SP500 Index shows several important points which help me time market bottoms. We have prices trading at a support zone. Buyers step back into the game here and should provide a decent bounce which started Friday Morning.

Next we have the panic selling spikes from an indicator I created. Generally the day after we see panic in the market like we did on Thursday we will see a big bounce and many times a large rally.

Down at the bottom you can see my custom market cycles which are both starting to bottom. During times like this the market has a natural tendency to move higher.

VIX - Market Volatility Daily Chart

The VIX has an old saying "When the VIX is high its time to buy, When the VIX is low, its time to go". Simple analysis clearly shows the VIX trading high and at a resistance zone.

Put/Call Ratio - Daily Trading Chart

This chart measures the amount of put and call options traded each day. When it is trading over 1.00 then we know for every 1 call option traded (wanting the market to go up) there is 1 put option traded (wanting the market to go down). Over 1.00 is extreme and when that many people are bearish and using leverage to profit from a drop in price then in my opinion it means everyone has already sold and the selling pressure is about to end.

Actually if you go back in time and review SP500 and this ratio you will notice 2-3 days after this ratio reaches 1.00 or higher the market bounces/bottoms.

NYSE Advance/Decline Line for Equities - Daily Chart

This chart shows us how many stocks are advancing or declining on any given day. When extremes are reached look for a short term bounce or bottom 1-3 days following.

How to Identify Stock Market Bottoms with Simple Analysis:

In short, I feel the market is forming a bottom here. How big of a rally will we get? I don't know because of the mixed signals from the May 6th EXTREME heavy volume selling session. As usual I focus on trading with the trend, trading the low risk setups and I manage my money/positions scaling in and out of those positions as I see fit.

If you would like to receive my Real-Time Trading Signals & Trading Education check out my website at www.FuturesTradingSignals.com

Chris Vermeulen

—

Chris Vermeulen is Founder of the popular trading site TheGoldAndOilGuy.com. There he shares his highly successful, low-risk trading method. For 6 years Chris has been a leader in teaching others to skillfully trade in gold, oil, and silver in both bull and bear markets. Subscribers to his service depend on Chris' uniquely consistent investment opportunities that carry exceptionally low risk and high return.

Please visit my website for more information.

http://www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

The SAR behind the word Parabolic refers to Stop And Reversal which can help traders to identify entry and exit position of their trading position. This indicator makes use of dots as a visual tool to help traders clearly identify the direction of the price movement. When the trend is up, the dots will be under the candlesticks and when the trend reverses to down, the dots will flip side to be formed above the candlesticks.

How To use Parabolic SAR

Basically, the parabolic SAR is a simple to use tool that can help to give forex buy sell signals to traders. When the dots are formed below the candles, it is a BUY signals and when the dots are formed above the candles, it indicates a SELL signals.

However, it is best to use this tool together with the help of trend. To be able to trade successfully with parabolic SAR, you should first identify the long and short term trend of the market and then place your trade in the direction of the trend according to the signals given by the SAR.

In addition, the parabolic SAR should always be used with other forex indicators such as MACD, RSI, Stochastic or Bollinger Bands for better results.

Advantage of Parabolic SAR Indicator

- It is a very simple to use indicator as you just have to look at the position of the dot to understand what it is conveying to you.

- You do not have to make any calculation as it is all automatically calculated by the program of your trading platform.

Disadvantage of Parabolic SAR Indicator

- It creates too many signals within a period of time as the price moves up and down.

As a whole, the PSAR is a good tool to use if it is combined properly with other indicators.

—

Kelvin is basically a full time forex trader. Before getting into the field of forex trading, he used to work as a process engineer in a multinational company. he was introduced to this field by one of his friend who had also quit from day job to be a full time trader today.

Please visit my website for more information.

E-Mail: forexkel@forexindicator.org
Website: http://www.forexindicator.org

One of the best tools that you can use to time this retracement and extension is the forex Fibonacci levels.

So What Exactly Is Fibonacci?

It is a number sequences that is named after Leonardo of Pisa and the Fibonacci number sequences goes like this

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 and so on. (Add the first 2 numbers to get the next)

However in trading, we are not interested in the sequences, we are actually interested in the Fibonacci ratio that the sequences create.

These are the ratio that we use as a forex trader.

Below are the retracement ratios

- 0.236
- 0.382
- 0.500
- 0.618
- 0.764

Below are the extension ratios

- 1.272
- 1.382
- 1.500
- 1.618

So How Can You Use These Ratios In Trading?

The Fibonacci ratio is in fact used as a level of support and resistance. These are areas where you will SELL or BUY depending on what you see and where you are.

Although there are quite a number of ratios given above, the important ones are the 0.382, 0.500, and 0.618 as they are usually area of strong support when the price retraces down and area of strong resistance when the price retraces up.

Here Is How You Should Plot Your Fibonacci Levels In An Uptrend

Step 1: Using the tool provided by your platform, Pick a high point and a low point

Step 2: Select the levels that you want to display. (We will select 0.382, 0.500, 0.618, 1.272, 1.382, 1.500 and 1.618)

If you are in a downtrend, all you have to do is to switch the step 1 points.

Uptrend Fibonacci

Downtrend Fibonacci

In the case where you are in an uptrend, you will find that the retracement of your price will usually land on the 0.382, 0.500 or the 0.618 level as these are area of strong support and the price will then extend up to continue in its uptrend movement.

If you ever find the price moving below the 0.382 level, there is a high chance that the trend is reversing.

In the case where you are in a downtrend, the market will retrace upward and it will also find its resistance at 0.382, 0.500 and the 0.618 levels. Similar to the uptrend, if the market retraces above the 0.382 level, there is a high chance that the market is reversing.

Fibonacci Support and Resistance

In my next blog post, I will show you how to trade using Fibonacci Strategy and how you can make use of the 1.272, 1.382 and the 1.618 levels. In the meantime, you should try to plot the Fibonacci levels on your chart to see the power of it.

—

Kelvin is basically a full time forex trader. Before getting into the field of forex trading, he used to work as a process engineer in a multinational company. he was introduced to this field by one of his friend who had also quit from day job to be a full time trader today.

Please visit my website for more information.

E-Mail: forexkel@forexindicator.org
Website: http://www.forexindicator.org

Forex breakout is one of the most profitable trading strategies that even new traders are able to do. It is very simple to execute and the movement is usually very large which also translate to more profit. In order to trade breakouts more effectively, you should make use of some indicators which are sometime known as breakout indicators.

Here are a few indicators that you should use when trading this strategy:

1) MACD indicator: This is one of my favourite indicators as it provides me with reliable entry and exit signal. When you are trading breakout, the most annoying thing that can happen is to see yourself entering a trade when you see the price breaking through a trend channel or trend line but later find it reversing and stopped you out. This occurrence is known as fake out and it can be minimise by using the forex macd indicator.

2) Oscillators: These are indicators that are able to show you whether the market is currently oversold or overbought. Examples of such oscillators are relative strength index and stochastic. By using the oscillator, you will be able to further enhance your entry as you are able to tell whether the price is going to continue in its range or breakout of the trend.

Let say that you are in a trend channel and the price is moving within the range. You will not know when it will break above or below the range or whether it is going to be repelled by the range resistance and support.

This is when the oscillator comes into use as it will be able to help you in this area. If you see the price moving toward a resistance level, you should take a look at the oscillator to see if it is overbought. If it is indeed overbought, there is a high chance that the price will be repelled by the resistance level. If you want to double confirm that it will be repelled, you can check your MACD to see if a bearish crossover is going to occur and this is exactly how I check for breakout and repulsion.

3) Bollinger Bands: This is an indicator that plots a upper band and a lower band that envelopes the price. Forex breakout usually occurs best when the market is in a period of consolidation. The longer the consolidation, the stronger is the breakout.

If the Bollinger bands are very narrow, you are likely to be in a period of consolidation and you should be looking for the price to make a sudden burst of movement.

Once you see the price breakout, you will definitely find the Bollinger bands to widen and this is the best time for you to enter a trade.

The above are 3 forex breakout indicators that I use to trade breakouts and I hope that this information is useful for your trading as well.

—

Kelvin is basically a full time forex trader. Before getting into the field of forex trading, he used to work as a process engineer in a multinational company. he was introduced to this field by one of his friend who had also quit from day job to be a full time trader today.

Please visit my website for more information.

E-Mail: forexkel@forexindicator.org
Website: http://www.forexindicator.org

In 2007, the EPA, under the Bush administration, said it was powerless to stop BP from dumping more toxic waste into Lake Michigan from its expanded refinery that was processing increased amounts of heavy crude oil from Canada.

However, the EPA did urge BP to mitigate the increased pollution of solid waste and ammonia by taking other proactive steps to limit environmental damage, including financing projects for other plants along the Grand Calumet River and Lake Michigan to reduce their pollution and other clean-up and run-off water-filtering projects.

Environmental groups opposed the EPA permit to expand its Lake Michigan refining operations. BP's position was bolstered by federal and state court decisions that shot down the suits from the environmental groups. BP also took out newspaper advertisements and paid Internet bloggers to defend the refinery's expansion. The payment of money to bloggers by BP is also evident in the number of pro-BP postings on the web concerning the mega-oil disaster.

The Obama administration, including EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, has permitted BP to violate the promises it made to the state and federal courts that steps would be taken to mitigate the effects of increased Lake Michigan pollution.

Informed sources in Chicago have told WMR that what is occurring in the Gulf of Mexico could very well happen to Lake Michigan when considering that BP not only continues to pollute the lake at higher rates but also has a record of safety and environmental infractions at the expanded Indiana refinery.

Source: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/BP-Gets-Pass-From-Obama-Administration-To-Potentially-Pollute-Lake-Michigan.html

By the Wayne Madsen for Oilprice.com who offer detailed analysis on Crude oil, Natural Gas, Geopolitics, Gold and most other Commodities. They also provide free political and economic intelligence to help investors gain a greater understanding of world events and the impact they have on certain regions and sectors. Visit: http://www.oilprice.com