Nymex crude oil prices have made a strong rebound from the September low but remain below a downtrend line drawn on the daily bar chart and the bears still have the overall near-term technical advantage. The crude oil bulls will have to push prices above strong chart resistance at $90.00 to break the downtrend and to suggest a price uptrend can be sustained. Some more price upside is likely in the near term but the $90-a-barrel level may be the stopping point for the rally.—Stay tuned. Jim Wyckoff