When negotiators are talking to the press, discussions have stalled.
The only thing politicians care more about than making progress is looking good. They have a keen sense of which way the wind is blowing so when talks begin to sour, they begin to look out for themselves.
They are masters of spin so unless they've said something definitive, then trading around negotiations is simple. If they're talking to the press, negotiations aren't going well. If they're silent then they're making progress.
In the past hour, officials from the US, German and Iran have all been speaking to the press about nuclear negotiations. It's very difficult to parse the comments and, in truth, they offer very little. But that they're talking at all is a negative sign and crude is rallying as a result.
The negotiations will extend tomorrow and I believe a deal is likely but the time to sell oil will be when officials are locked in the room and there haven't been any headlines for 4 or 6 hours.
"psyche!"
