Oil Prices: Past $70 on Economic Optimism; Just Wait for

They say that second marriages represent the triumph of hope over experience. The same, it seems, is true of the oil market.

Crude oil futures surged past $71 a barrel, and a one-month high, on the back of some encouraging data about U.S. and Chinese manufacturing. That is, U.S. manufacturing, while still contracting, doesn

As a result, crude futures rose almost 3% to $71.46 in midday trading in New York.