Here's Why 'Moms' And 'Millennials' Are Getting In On The Oil Trade

Crude is the new "hot" trade, at least according to The Wall Street Journal who reported that the commodity is even attracting interest among "moms" and "millennials." The price of oil has seen large swings in both the short, medium and long-term. The commodity fell to its lowest level since 2003 earlier this year after trading in the triple digit price range in prior years. On Wednesday, the price of oil hit $50 per barrel for the first time around 7 months. "I just thought, let's throw a couple of hundred dollars in it...and try it out," Matt Krasnoff, a 26 year old who bought shares of VelocityShares 3X Long Crude ETN linked to the S&P GSCI Crude Oil Index Excess Return UWTI told The Wall Street Journal. "I just enjoy the risk and the thrill of the market in general." The Wall Street Journal also profiled Erika Cajic, a 45-year old full-time parent who made an investment in an oil-linked exchange-traded note based on the assumption that oil prices would rise as a result of wildfires in oil-rich Alberta. Regardless of age and gender, the CME Group, the world's largest futures-market operator, believes that crude oil has been its second most heavily traded contract among retail investors. In fact, total assets of all exchange-traded products that offer exposure to crude hit a record high of $8.5 billion in early March.