WTI oil has now traded above $90.00 a barrel since late October 2011. While high energy prices used to signal global economic demand and strength; it is still a direct tax on consumers. These days high oil is affected by geopolitical events, weather, and the obvious action in the U.S. Dollar Index. At this time, oil has a war premium built in due to the Iranian threats and sanctions in the Middle East. Since 2008, whenever oil has traded around the $100.00 level for any considerable amount of time it has caused problems for the economy and this time around should not be any different.