jumped back to negative territory Wednesday as fund managers reshuffle their positions ahead of the end of the third quarter, and the expectation is they could lurch even lower once the fourth quarter begins.

December Brent crude oil futures were falling $1.57 to $104.09 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light sweet crude oil for November delivery was tumbling $2.11 to $82.34 in the face of big volume "window-dressing" activity by fund managers eager to gin up their statements in the run-up to the end of the third quarter. Oil has been trading right alongside equities of late.

Brent crude prices weren’t taking as big of a hit as WTI, given that long-only funds have been liquidating their exposure to NYMEX WTI — the price of which has been pressured by the supply glut at key oil trading hub Cushing, Okla. — and ramping up their exposure to the ICE Brent market, which is more closely tied to the economics of the global marketplace.

"Liquidity is much higher on the ICE Brent market, so it makes sense for them to shift there," said Schork Report editor Stephen Schork. Meanwhile, "The NYMEX market is skewed, given the extent of the bottleneck in supply in the Cushing hub."