Analysis Topic: Commodity Markets - Metals, Softs & Oils

The analysis published under this topic are as follows.

Friday, February 03, 2012

Critical Materials for Critical Technologies / Commodities / Metals & Mining

By: Richard_Mills

Critical materials have been described in various ways, with perhaps the clearest being the following two definitions:

A critical or strategic material is a commodity whose lack of availability during a national emergency would seriously affect the economic, industrial, and defensive capability of a country.

The critical materials are natural resources that have a threatened supply availability and are a necessity for technology that is experiencing growing demand.

Friday, February 03, 2012

Junior Gold Mining Stock / Commodities / Gold & Silver Stocks

By: Zeal_LLC

It only took eleven years, but in 2011 global gold-mine production has finally returned to pre-bull levels.  In fact, with 2011’s volume expected to come in at around 88m ounces, we’ll see a new all-time production high.  The latest exploration-and-development cycle is finally starting to bear fruit!

This fruit has been hard-earned though, as the miners have had to reverse the course of a brutal production decline that bottomed out in 2008.  Incredibly global gold production had fallen nearly 13% in five years from 2003’s high, to a level not seen since the mid-1990s.  And needless to say that painted quite an alarming fundamental picture considering demand was on the rise.

Friday, February 03, 2012

Bernanke's Comments "Lend Support" to Gold, But Dips Following Strong US Jobs News / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Ben_Traynor

SPOT MARKET gold prices slipped back below $1750 an ounce while stock markets rallied strongly following the release of better-than-expected US jobs figures on Friday.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics nonfarm payrolls report, published on Friday, shows that the US added a net 243,000 nonagricultural private sector jobs last month. In addition, both November and December's nonfarm figures were revised upwards. The unemployment rate fell to 8.3%, down from 8.5% the previous month.

Friday, February 03, 2012

U.S. Mint Gold Coin Sales Return to Fundamental Driven Demand / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: GoldCore

Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1759.50, EUR 1,335.48, and GBP 1,110.66 per ounce.

Yesterday's AM fix was USD 1,747.50, EUR 1,326.68, and GBP 1,102.80 per ounce.

Friday, February 03, 2012

Gold Bull Market Bigger than Ever / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Jan_Skoyles

We recently wrote about the difference between gold’s price and its value, demonstrating a significant difference between the two. We asked many fundamental questions which show whether or not the gold price is proximate to its value. The answer was it was not.

Late last year we wrote of the on-going ‘Gold Wars’ between so-called industry experts and gold investors. We repeatedly found ‘experts’, who write in the mainstream media, were calling the end of the gold bubble whenever the price of gold dipped slightly.

Friday, February 03, 2012

Poland Gives Green Light to Massive Natural Gas Fracking Efforts / Commodities / Natural Gas

By: OilPrice_Com

There is perhaps no more controversial energy source after nuclear than "hydraulic fracturing," or "fracking," of subterranean shale deposits containing pockets of natural gas.

While the process can liberate previously unusable sources of natural gas, political, environmental and scientific concerns have risen along with production, as evidence mounts that fracking is responsible for everything from polluting subterranean aquifers to causing regional earthquakes.

Thursday, February 02, 2012

Commodity Wars, Why Trade Milk When You Can Buy the Cow (Cheaply)? / Commodities / Commodities Trading

By: Jesse

As you may recall, I was speaking about the Currency War long before it became a recognized issue. From my analysis of history and the major monetary trends it seemed inevitable even in 1999, and events shortly after that confirmed it.

Those who see what is going on behind the scenes are securing supplies of key commodities and hard assets. And this is not limited to the large national banks and financial firms.

Thursday, February 02, 2012

Silver And The Shift To Measuring Wealth In Ounces Instead Of Dollars / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Hubert_Moolman

The debt-based monetary system creates an illusion of wealth. It allows for claims on real goods to significantly exceed the actual amount of real goods. You then have a number of people believing they have wealth, since they have claims (pieces of paper or tokens) showing that they have these real assets, whereas, in reality, if everyone was to claim the real goods, there would not be enough to go around.

Thursday, February 02, 2012

Chinese and Indian Gold Demand Rising as Zero Interest Rates Distort Investment Markets / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Adrian_Ash

The WHOLESALE-MARKET gold price slipped 0.5% from a new 8-week high in London Thursday morning, while global stock markets stalled after a 3-day rise and commodities also edged back.

The Euro fell from $1.32 on the forex market for the third time this week after chief finance minister Jean-Claude Juncker said new proposals for stemming the currency zone's debt crisis – agreed at a summit on Monday – were "largely insufficient".

Thursday, February 02, 2012

Gold Challenges Resistance at $1,750/oz – Technicals and Fundamentals Remain Very Positive / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: GoldCore

Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,747.50, EUR 1,326.68, and GBP 1,102.80 per ounce. Yesterday's AM fix was USD 1,744, EUR 1,327.65, and GBP 1,106.74 per ounce.

Thursday, February 02, 2012

The Coming Disruption In Rare Earths / Commodities / Metals & Mining

By: Anthony_David

In December 2011, the US Department of Energy (DoE) released the 2011 ‘Critical Materials Strategy’, a report that examines the role of materials such as rare earth metals in the ‘clean energy economy.’ The report cautions that the US runs the risk of facing disruptions in its short-term rare earth supply chain until 2015 at least. Shortage of five critical rare earth minerals—dysprosium, europium, neodymium, terbium and yttrium—could create expensive interruptions in the production of electric vehicles, wind turbines and energy-efficient lighting.

Thursday, February 02, 2012

Battery Power: The Next Generation / Commodities / Metals & Mining

By: Anthony_David

Lithium Manganese Dioxide (LMD) batteries have 4% lithium, 61% manganese and 35% oxygen by atomic weight. Their high power output, low production cost, enhanced safety and thermal stability in comparison to other lithium ion batteries have made LMD batteries very attractive in the electric vehicle market. LMD batteries are already being used by the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf.

Thursday, February 02, 2012

Have Your Heard of Graphene? / Commodities / Metals & Mining

By: Anthony_David

Graphene was discovered about seven years ago in Britain and since then, the material has been generating tremendous attention. The wonder value of the material is extraordinary—it is 200 times stronger than steel and tougher than diamond yet almost invisible and weightless; it stretches like rubber and is a better conductor of heat and electricity than copper. In fact, some researchers claim it is the most important substance created since synthetic plastic a century ago!

Thursday, February 02, 2012

Great Deals on Gold and Silver 2012 / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: The_Gold_Report

GoldMoney Founder and Chairman James Turk knows how to find great deals on gold and silver. He claims that the 2012 bottom for gold came during the first week in January. If the year's low is already history and if his projection that gold will hit the $2,000/oz mark within three months is on target, you do the math. "Gold is way too cheap," he tells The Gold Report in this exclusive interview.

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Facebook IPO, Dollar, Gold Doesn’t Care! / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: UnpuncturedCycle

The media is all excited about the announcement of the Facebook IPO, treating it as if it’s the second coming of sliced bread. At its anticipated IPO later this year, Facebook will be three times more expensive than Google was at its IPO — and nearly 40 times more expensive than the average large IPO of the last four decades. The valuation metric that some analysts chose to focus on is the price-to-sales ratio (PSR). Of course, it’s too early to know for sure what Facebook’s will be when it comes to market, since its offer price hasn’t been set. But, based on the early reports that Facebook will be valued at its IPO at as much as $100 billion, and 2011 revenues of $3.8 billion, Facebook’s PSR will be around 26. In order to produce a profit stream that is great enough to support a prayer of its stock doing even close to as well as Google’s did in its first few years of life, Facebook’s revenue growth will have to be several orders of magnitude greater, or have a profit margin that is several times greater — or both.

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Corruption In Fascist Business Model, Gold Coil Ready / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Jim_Willie_CB

Few can define fascism. Many cannot recognize it. History provides shocking stories of its past episodes. But its root structural feature is the tight relationship between the state and large corporations of a nation, which permit enormous fraud and lead to grand inefficiency, even while aggression and war accompany its handiwork in an ugly fabric weave. Nowhere is the bond more scummy and corrupt than with the banking industry, not in general but in Wall Street where defense of the USDollar has come. That defense was contracted from the USGovt to Wall Street, whose ties developed into a vast network of corruption. That cozy relationship led to the gutting of Fort Knox and its gold bullion in the 1990 decade of so-called prosperity. The 0% gold leasing resulted in vast speculation schemes, private multi-$trillion profit, and absent collateral for the USDollar itself.

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

The Gold Price and Gold Investment / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: William_Bancroft

In this article Will Bancroft takes a look at an issue central to gold investment, and one that is so often underappreciated by those yet to invest in gold; the difference between value and price. Investors often pay too much attention to the gold price, and forget that the most important thing is actually the value of gold. Read on to understand why it is value you should weigh up before deciding whether to buy gold.

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Triple Digit Crude Oil Investing and a Natural Gas Price Rebound / Commodities / Energy Resources

By: The_Energy_Report

Powers Energy Investor Editor Bill Powers doesn't shy away from microcaps; he embraces them. In this exclusive interview with The Energy Report, he explains why triple-digit oil is here to stay and how the best-positioned companies will be sitting pretty when natural gas prices rise—as will investors who time the rebound right.

The Energy Report: Is it fair to say that you are a value investor?

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Gold Surges 13.9% in January / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Pete_Grant

Gold had a rather stellar January, posting a 13.9% monthly gain based on the LBMA PM fixings of 1531.00 on 31-Dec-11 and 1744.00 on 31-Jan-12. That's a bigger gain than the yellow metal achieved for the entirety of last year!

Last week — when gold was up less than 10% for the month — Bloomberg came out with a story noting that this was the best start to a year since 1980. Indeed gold did rally smartly in January 1980, but it also put in a nominal 27-year high that month. Should today's investors be worried that a similar fate awaits them? I think not.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

January Was A Good Month For Uranium and Rare Earth Miners / Commodities / Uranium

By: Jeb_Handwerger

As we predicted, our uranium (URA) and rare earth (REMX) selections are amongst the leaders during this market rebound. Their underlying fundamentals are strong enough on their own to propel this move. In addition, the shorts may be running for cover here. Lastly, the supply demand equation may be taking hold here.