Analysis Topic: Commodity Markets - Metals, Softs & Oils
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Gold and Silver Wait Patiently for More Easing / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Eric_McWhinnie
After having a strong performance the prior day, the markets experienced a broad pullback as growth data from China disappointed investors. Gold prices fell more than 1.5 percent, while silver dropped 3.3 percent.
On Friday, the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing announced that China’s economy grew at 8.1 percent in the first quarter of 2012, its slowest pace in about three years. Economists were expecting growth of about 8.3 percent and the whisper number was around 9 percent. In comparison, China grew at 8.9 percent in the previous quarter, and 11.9 percent in the first quarter of 2010. Song Yu, China economist at Goldman Sachs explained, “Growth in the first two months was weak. We had some loosening of monetary and fiscal policy in March, but it wasn’t enough to save the quarterly number,” according to the WSJ.
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Saturday, April 14, 2012
U.S. Gas Price Redux / Commodities / Gas - Petrol
By: Andy_Sutton
It is truly amazing how much can change in four years. Or, more accurately, how little things change in terms of human behavior. Four years ago the US was mired in the last spike in gasoline prices heading into the summer. Virtually every media outlet was conducting daily interviews, polls, and newsbytes about how Mr. and Mrs. Average were dealing with the high gas prices. Today, we have a new norm, and the wires are rather silent on the high gas prices other than quietly reporting the national averages. We as a country have come to be comfortable with $3.50 gas. Gas is one of those strange commodities too because, unlike so many other things, almost everyone has a pretty good idea of the price they paid for their last tankful.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
The Inter-market Correlations May Prove Insightful for Gold and Silver Investors / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Przemyslaw_Radomski
Tuesday marked the worst day of the year for U.S. markets. Stocks fell amid anxiety ahead of earnings season and rising bond yields for Spain and Italy, along with sharp losses for those markets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 213.66 points, or 1.7%, resulting in a five-session losing streak. That’s the longest such run of losses since August. It was also the biggest one-day point and percentage drop for the index since Nov. 23. But Wednesday, U.S. stocks rose sharply after an extended losing run as Spanish and Italian bond yields fell.
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Saturday, April 14, 2012
Gold Bullish and Bearish Developments / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Ben_Traynor
Highlights from this week's GFMS Gold Survey 2012 launch…
EARLIER Thomson Reuters GFMS, the world's foremost research firm focusing on precious metals, launched its Gold Survey 2012.
For those weighing up the pros and cons of making a gold investment this year there were both bullish and bearish signals.
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Saturday, April 14, 2012
Investor Gold and Silver Opportunity in Veiled Price Suppression Realities / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: DeepCaster_LLC
“This Decade will be the Decade of Silver.” Eric Sprott
This decade increasingly offers the opportunity to Profit and Protect Wealth provided one is aware of Key Realities that are Veiled from common view.
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Saturday, April 14, 2012
Gold Bullish Technicals, Major Rally Brewing / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Zeal_LLC
Gold has been weathering some considerable selling pressure lately, which has naturally turned sentiment quite pessimistic. Bearish commentary abounds, with all kinds of predictions for further declines. But as is usually the case after any material selloff spooks traders, gold’s technicals are actually very bullish today. Gold’s next move will likely prove to be a major rally.
Gold’s latest selloff started on February 29th when the Fed Chairman’s testimony before Congress convinced traders that a third round of quantitative easing is becoming less likely. Gold plummeted 5.1% on this latest in a long line of irrational QE3 scares, its biggest down day since the stock panic. Over the 6 weeks since, gold has retreated as much as 9.3% at worst (including that initial plunge).
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Friday, April 13, 2012
Gold Holding Up / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Mike_Paulenoff
Under the circumstances, spot gold is holding up very well amdist a stronger USD and declining equity and commodity markets. Yes, it is a risk-off day, but so far gold has preserved its dominant near-term support lines and levels, which suggests that any lull or reversal in the selling pressure, should work to the advantage of the relative technical "health" of gold.
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Friday, April 13, 2012
Gold Stocks Are Turning Up / Commodities / Gold & Silver Stocks
By: Michael_Swanson
Something funny is happening in the mining stock world. Gold and gold stocks have been in a correction since last September and it has gone on for so long that many people are giving up on them just as it appears that this correction may be coming to an end.Just a few days ago the well respected commentator Dennis Gartman declared on CNBC that the gold bear market that began ten years ago is over. His reasoning - the recent FOMC minutes release proves that “the game has changed.”
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Friday, April 13, 2012
Gold Escapes Bearish Channel and Heads for Weekly Gain / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Ben_Traynor
U.S. DOLLAR prices to buy gold traded sideways just below $1680 an ounce during Friday morning's London session – back up at levels last seen ten days ago – while stock markets and industrial commodity prices edged lower and government bonds gained.
A day earlier, gold prices jumped 1.6% during US trading – holding onto most of those gains during Friday's Asian session despite the release of lower-than-expected Chinese growth figures.
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Friday, April 13, 2012
Natural Gas Companies: A Contrarian Bet on Higher Prices / Commodities / Natural Gas
By: Money_Morning
Diane Alter writes:
The decline in natural gas stocks has been anything but natural lately.
With ample stores and cheap prices, natural gas-related equities have taken a beating and continue to be battered.
While it is always difficult to call a bottom, the tide may be turning for natural gas companies despite the latest data.
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Friday, April 13, 2012
Gold To Repeat 2011 April, May Gains in 2012? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: GoldCore
Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,670.50, EUR 1,269.86, and GBP 1,048.91 per ounce. Yesterday's AM fix was USD 1,655.50, EUR 1,261.33 and GBP 1,039.04 per ounce.
Silver is trading at $32.39/oz, €24.53/oz and £20.27/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,597.50/oz, palladium at $644/oz and rhodium at $1,350/oz.
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Friday, April 13, 2012
Gold Under Extreme Pressure to Rise, the Golden Eye of the Debt Hurricane / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Jim_Willie_CB
What an incredibly complex confusing and treacherous month. It can be safely said that 80% of the activity is almost totally kept from the public. The financial system is breaking in an accelerated fashion. Compare to some grisly horror movie where a man is strapped in a chair. The more he moves, the tighter the bindings pull on his gasping throat and pressed nether stones. The most significant two factors at work are the Iran sanctions and their powerful backfire, and the futile efforts in Europe to stem the banking center collapse. The anti-USDollar federation that spans widely across the globe is gathering strong momentum. Financial aggression is being met by financial alternative development.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Brazil's Biofuel Boom / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: The_Energy_Report
Believe it or not, industry experts see biofuels accounting for up to 25% of global energy consumption by 2050. With this long-term vision in mind, Mark McHugh, president and CEO of consultancy firm CenAm Energy Partners SA, assesses the current biofuel industry from his base in Brazil, the seat of the growing industry. In this exclusive interview with The Energy Report, McHugh explains why specialized energy feedstocks are the solution to current technological and political growth constraints, predicting that biofuel investment returns may rival historic fossil fuel profit ratios.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Soybeans: The New Corn / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Ned_W_Schmidt
Markets are intriguing due to their constantly changing character. New leadership constantly evolves. In equity markets, that tendency is always pushed to an extreme. A maker of electronic toys is today considered the most valuable company. Nonsensical forecasts of a $1,000 share price have even appeared. A company involved in the social networking fad is praised for a billion-dollar acquisition of a company with no revenues, making the internet bubble look like value investing.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Gold Miners on the Move / Commodities / Gold & Silver Stocks
By: Mike_Paulenoff
Apart from what we discussed about the relationship of the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ) and the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) on Tuesday evening, what is interesting today is that the heretofore (and more often than not) inverse relationship between the GDXJ and the SPY has morphed into a direct relationship.
That is to say, both the SPY and the GDXJ are climbing today, although, more to the point, the former is up about 1%, while the latter is up 4.4% so far today.
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Thursday, April 12, 2012
Useless Gold Overtakes Platinum / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Adrian_Ash
It's more than "interesting" that platinum prices are lagging gold...
GOLD has risen nicely since the meltdown following Lehmans' collapse, with the gold price in Dollars rising 130%. Until last summer, however, platinum had done better still.
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Thursday, April 12, 2012
Why High Oil Prices Even at $200 Won't Cause a Recession / Commodities / Crude Oil
By: Money_Morning
Martin Hutchinson writes:
Last Friday's weak unemployment numbers, with only 120,000 jobs created, brought renewed wails that high oil prices were causing a recession.
Having heard this refrain so many times, I thought I'd dig a little deeper.
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Thursday, April 12, 2012
Vietnam goes nuclear on Gold / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Jan_Skoyles
Vietnam is frequently cited as an example of somewhere which acknowledges gold’s role as money; it is a medium of exchange and is used as such every day. Houses come with two prices in Vietnam; the price in dong and the price in gold – gold is most often the favoured form of payment (Thiers’ law in effect).
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Crude Oil and Natural Gas Ratio Explodes to 52:1 / Commodities / Crude Oil
By: EconMatters
The ink on our last article is barely dry when its dire prediction actually came true 48 hours later--natural gas price dropping below $2, a level not seen in over a decade. Henry Hub natural gas front month futures declined to $1.982 per 1,000 cubic feet (mcf) on Wed. April 11, its lowest level since January 28, 2002, when the price hit $1.91. Meanwhile, WTI crude oil rose by $1.68 to finish at $102.70 per barrel; Brent rude increased by 30 cents to finish at $120.18.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Cameco Uranium Miner Worth Another Look / Commodities / Uranium
By: Bob_Kirtley
Cameco Corporation (CCJ) is one of the world’s largest uranium producers. It is also the world’s largest publicly traded uranium company. Cameco operates several mines across North America and one in Kazakhstan.
Twelve months on, the fallout from the Fukushima disaster (nuclear and financial) has subsided and the uranium sector has started to see some positive signs once again. The number of reactors globally is expected to increase in coming years, and Japan is even seriously considering reopening some if not all of its reactors.