20 The MarchMarch RBOB crack spread was at3

Crude futures jumped more than $2 to above $48 a barrelintraday in morning trading in New York. Oil futures received some support from the dollar'sweakness against the euro, U.S cold weather and recent renewedrebel activity in Nigeria. "Oil has been tracking the stock market more, especiallythe S&P, and we may be seeing a willingness to put in freshpositions," said Gene McGillian, an analyst at Tradition Energyin Stamford, Connecticut PRICES On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 11:21 a.m. EST(1621 GMT), March crude CLH9 was up $1.30, or 2.8 percent, at$47.77 per barrel, trading from $45.25 to $48.59, well abovetechnical resistance charted at $47, Friday's intraday high.

In London, March Brent LC0H9 was up 35 cents, or 0.72percent, to $48.72 a barrel, trading from $46.67 to $49.65. NYMEX February heating oil HOG9 rose 1.15 cents, or0.79 percent, to $1.4620 a gallon, trading from $1.4065 to$1.4773. NYMEX February RBOB RBG9 rose 3.44 cents, or 2.98percent, to $1.1888 per gallon, trading from $1.1205 to$1.2108, above technical resistance charted at $1.20 The March/March RBOB crack spread was at$3.56 It ended Friday at $3.20. The March/March heating oilcrack spread was at $13.42 It ended Friday at$14.22. The spread between the current front month and thefive-year forward crude contract CLc61 was at $20.93, basedon Friday's March 2014 contract settlement at $68.70 Thespread ended Friday at $22.23. TECHNICALS NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $40.36/$41.69 Technical support/resistance: NYMEX crude: $40.00/$47.00 NYMEX heating oil: $1.1983/$1.50 NYMEX RBOB: $1.05/1.20 For a report on technicals, click ID:nLQ295365 MARKET NEWS U.S.

stocks rose as investors took news of a majortakeover in the drug industry as a sign that stock valuationswere attractive while reassurances from Barclays (BARC.L)fueled a rebound in financial stocks A report showing asurprise rise in sales of U.S existing homes in December addedto the positive tone .N The pace of U.S. existing home sales rose 6.5 percent inDecember, but the median home price dropped by a record 15.3percent compared with the year-ago period, a NationalAssociation of Realtors report showed. ID:nN26425991 The euro extended gains against the dollar on Monday to afresh one-week high and the dollar rose against the yen afterdata showed sales of existing U.S homes rose. USD/ OPEC could meet before March, if Brent crude prices fallto below $40 per barrel, the group's president was cited byAngolan weekly newspaper O Pais as saying.

ID:nB626765 World stocks shook off deepening gloom about the economyand banking system to reverse days of losses MKTS/GLOB U.S. heating demand this week is expected to average 5.4percent above normal, the National Weather Service forecast.Heating oil demand is expected to be about 10.3 percent abovenormal this week. ID:nN26371787 (Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by Marguerita Choy) Funds News ETFs News Funds News ETFs News. For sixteen years as the Packer quarterback, Minnesota Viking fans relished their opportunity to cheer against Brett Favre, hoping to cause an interception. For sixteen years, they had to put up with more defeats than wins at the hand of a quarterback who, at first, had great difficulty dealing with the earsplitting noise in their dome. He might have been 2-6 against the Vikings in their first eight contests but he was 4-0 in his last four games as a Packer. Clearly, current Vikings fans did not have a good taste in their mouth for a quarterback named Brett Favre. In those last four contests, he outscored them 89-30. Rumors of contacts between Favre and Minnesota coaches prior to his leaving the Packers led to an NFL investigation. The Packers still think there was something going on although it was determined that no one had violated any rules. Most likely, his former quarterback coach, Darrell Bevell, offensive coordinator for the Vikings, contacted Favre in a routine manner and encouraged him not to retire at the top of his game. After all, Favre had had his best quarterback rating in 2007 (95.7) since 1996 (95.8).