Contrarian Investor: The dangers of oil bullishness

David Stevenson takes a closer look at whether the oil sector is back to the 'old normal'.

What a difference a few months make in fickle markets. Last year, we were all transfixed by events in the oil markets. The Saudis were targeting the yanks, capex was plummeting and excitable pundits such as myself were predicting oil to fall to $20. Equity markets also caught the contagion and seemed to be moving in lockstep with plunging oil prices. But three quarters of the way through 2016, some semblance of normality seems to have returned as oil prices have stabilised. In recent weeks, these markets have even defied the industry experts by pushing towards new highs, helped along by ...