Analysis Topic: Commodity Markets - Metals, Softs & Oils

The analysis published under this topic are as follows.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Natural Gas – Uncovering Trade Potentials / Commodities / Natural Gas

By: Michael_Noonan

We like Natural Gas from the long side, ever since the 9 January "double bottom." What was needed was a weak correction, or retest of that day's low, but it never came as price kept rallying higher every day. Last night, while reviewing markets, in general, this chart jumped out for a short-term short position.

The first thing noticed was the wide range bar on Tuesday, second bar from end. The close was weak, just under mid-range the bar, and volume increased. Increased volume on a wide range bar is always worth noting. Turns out, there was also a three day clustering of closes, and all of this occurring at a potential resistance area, noted by the broken horizontal lines where a downside gap formed.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Uranium $100+/Pound Needed to Satisfy Stealth Demand / Commodities / Uranium

By: The_Energy_Report

What's the easiest way to track the ups and downs of energy markets? Watch what governments are doing rather than what they are saying, says S&A Resource Report Editor Matt Badiali. He has been watching behind-the-scenes nuclear energy importing in Germany and Japan and has concluded that the uranium market has hit bottom and is coming back up. What companies could benefit from these gyrations? He has an answer to that one in this Energy Report interview, plus some words of wisdom on U.S. oil and gas bottlenecks.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Bored Gold Traders But Long-Term Case "Robust" as Russia Buys / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013

By: Adrian_Ash

PRECIOUS METALS prices fell in Asian and London trade Thursday morning, taking gold and silver to 1-week lows as commodity prices also dropped and stock markets stalled.

Shares in Apple Inc. were set to open New York trade 8% lower after the gadget giant reported weak Christmas sales.

New purchasing managers' data today showed business activity and sentiment in China rising to a two-year high.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Forget Germany, Check Out Turkey's Central-Bank Gold / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013

By: Adrian_Ash

Now here's a central bank really putting gold to good use...

AMID the brouhaha over Germany's gold reserves at the Bundesbank, there's another central bank using gold actively to bolster its currency and financial stability.

The strategy looks the same – sitting on big stockpiles of the stuff. But the aim differs, because gold is much closer to the everyday financial system. The tactics differ too. Because the central bank hasn't bought and paid for this gold. Private citizens have.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Faber to Shiller: “You Keep Your U.S. Dollars And I’ll Keep My Gold” / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013

By: GoldCore

Today’s AM fix was USD 1,677.00, EUR 1,258.06, and GBP 1,059.18 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,692.25, EUR 1,268.84, and GBP 1,066.19 per ounce.

Silver is trading at $31.92/oz, €24.05/oz and £20.26/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,692.75/oz, palladium at $718.00/oz and rhodium at $1,200/oz.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Australia’s Metal Miners hitch a Ride to China’s Economy  / Commodities / Metals & Mining

By: Gary_Dorsch

Navigating a metals mining company through the treacherous seas of the global economy is no easy task. There are many headwinds that can capsize a mining company or steer it far off course, if the captain of the ship doesn’t read the signals of the marketplace correctly. And it’s not only shareholders that can get hurt from calamitous decisions, but also CEO’s, such as Rio Tinto’s boss, who was sacked last week, because of a string of $34-billion of write downs, stemming from ill-timed and over priced acquisitions of aluminum and coal mines.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Buy Silver if Global Economy Strengthens / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013

By: InvestmentContrarian

George Leong writes: In April 2011, when silver was trading at $50.00 an ounce, Bank of America Merrill Lynch was extremely bullish and suggested $80.00 was possible. (Source: “Prospect of silver hitting $80 shakes up stock, ETF markets,” International Business Times, May 1, 2011, last accessed January 22, 2013.) Of course, this hasn’t been the scenario, as the metal faces tough resistance at $35.00. Until there is a strong breakout here, I doubt the $40.00-level will be achievable.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Goldman Sachs Short-Term Bullish, Long-Term Bearish Call On Gold / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013

By: Richard_Shaw

Goldman Sachs predicts a gold spike in the near term to $1800+, but eventual decline to about 1200 by 2018.  Their view is that safe haven seeking behavior will reduce as economies heal and interest rates rise, and risk assets appreciate.  In particular, they are concerned that when interest rates revert from negative real rates to positive real rates, the price of gold will experience strong negative pressures, which they feel will probably outweigh other factors that may produce positive price pressures.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Silver Bars Being Secured By HSBC – Buy $876 Million Worth From Poland / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013

By: GoldCore

Today’s AM fix was USD 1,692.25, EUR 1,268.84, and GBP 1,066.19 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,692.50, EUR 1,268.17, and GBP 1,068.36 per ounce.

Silver is trading at $32.33/oz, €24.32/oz and £20.46/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,700.50/oz, palladium at $725.00/oz and rhodium at $1,200/oz.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Gold Holding Steady as Chinese Demand Slows / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013

By: Ben_Traynor

GOLD continued to hover near one-month highs above $1690 an ounce Wednesday morning, where it has spent most of this week, with dealers in India and China citing a slowdown in physical bullion demand.

Silver climbed above $32.30 an ounce, a one-month high, as stocks and commodities were broadly flat and US Treasuries gained.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Germany Prepares: The Bundesbank Repatriates Gold Reserves / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013

By: GoldSilver

It is official:  Germany is set to repatriate a large share of its gold reserves.  This is one of the most definitive measures the country has taken in light of the ongoing global crisis.  

Earlier this month, the Bundesbank (Germany's central bank) announced its intention to take delivery of over half of its gold reserves by 2020, gradually transferring it to gold vaults in Germany.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Uranium Energy Solution and Risk-On Investor Opportunity / Commodities / Uranium

By: The_Energy_Report

If a person consumed only nuclear-generated power, the amount of waste generated over his or her lifetime could be contained in a soda can. Compare this to the trainloads of coal delivered daily to coal-fired power plants and nuclear power seems like a no-brainer. Cecil Musgrave of InvestorsGuru.com sees nuclear power as a bridge to a renewable energy mix—but only if supply is reliable. In this interview with The Energy Report, Musgrave explains why supply shortages may create a price spike for the commodity and names some uranium juniors that are poised to deliver the goods.

The Energy Report: Let's talk about the state of the international market for uranium. Profit margins for producers are still slim. Do you see a possibility that prices will rise this year?

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

German Gold Claw Back Causes Concern / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013

By: John_Browne

Last week the Bundesbank (the German central bank) surprised markets around the world by announcing that it will repatriate a sizable portion of its gold bullion reserves held in France and the United States. To many, the news from the world's second largest holder of gold signaled a growing, if clandestine, mistrust among central banks, possibly fueled by diverging policy goals. The Germans have attempted to tamp down the alarm by highlighting the myriad of logistical, practical and historical reasons that qualified the announcement as unremarkable. But the size, scope, and timing of the move makes it hard not to draw more strategic conclusions.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Sensational Facts About Gold Investing That You Might Not Know / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013

By: Frank_Holmes

Our ever-popular Periodic Table of Commodity Returns has been updated through 2012. Investor Alert readers love this chart as it shows a decade of results across 14 different commodities, providing strikingly rich information in a very familiar format.

Last year, 11 commodities rose in value, with wheat rising as the top crop after seeing a significant decline in 2011. It was a similar rags-to-riches story for the next few leaders, including lead, zinc, natural gas and platinum, which all climbed double digits in 2012 after falling in 2011.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Gold, Silver and Stocks poised to Ramp higher in 2013 / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013

By: David_Banister

It’s been a long drawn out corrective affair with the precious metals since the August-September 2011 top that seems so long ago right now. During that last spike period where Gold rallied to just over $1900 per ounce, we had mentioned many times in articles and to our subscribers that GOLD was likely peaking in a wave 3 of excitement and high powered bullish sentiment. The “tells” were the articles, the CNBC mentions, the daily “CNBC GOLD” ticker at the top of their screen, and the cover of a major magazine.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Hidden Inflation Means Gold is Going Higher / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013

By: Robert_M_Williams

Back in 1980 the US experienced high inflation, close to 20% and with interest rates in excess of 18%, before the Fed finally got things under control. Companies had to raise prices and sales suffered as a result. In today’s world we are experiencing inflation, but it’s a lot harder to see. The government has changed the weighting of its inflationary indexes so the true effects aren’t reported. We also have more subtle ways of hiding inflation. Companies have learned not to raise prices since everyone can see that. Instead they’ve learned to quietly cut back on content while maintaining prices at previous levels.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Why Crude Oil Prices Could Soar 40% by Summer 2013 / Commodities / Crude Oil

By: Money_Morning

Ben Gersten writes: Oil prices have continued their upward move that began at the end of 2012, gaining over 8% in the past month.

Now, an oil analyst with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) predicts Brent crude could soar much higher in the next few months.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Uranium Prices At a Critical Tipping Point / Commodities / Uranium

By: Money_Morning

Peter Krauth writes: Despite the Fukushima disaster in March 2011, the demand for nuclear power continues to rise.

For uranium investors, that means the commodity is at a critical tipping point towards much higher prices.

Thanks to considerably higher energy costs, even Japan is now shifting its stance on nuclear power. According to Japan Today, newly elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe now says he is willing to build new nuclear reactors.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Gold Needs to Break $1700 for Momentum / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013

By: Ben_Traynor

U.S. DOLLAR gold prices hovered above $1690 an ounce Tuesday morning in London, close to one-month highs, while prices in Yen quoted on Tokyo's gold futures market set a new record, following an announcement of open-ended asset purchases and a new, higher inflation target by Japan's central bank.

"[Gold] is struggling along the 55-day moving average at $1695.96 and just below the downtrend channel resistance line at $1704.89," says Commerzbank senior technical analyst Axel Rudolph.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Why Owning Gold is Absolutely Essential – Charles Ponzi Meets Cassandra / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013

By: DeviantInvestor

One fine day on the streets of Washington D.C. the ghost of Charles Ponzi struck up a conversation with the ghost of Cassandra. He was a charming devil and assumed she would find him irresistible so he began with “It is ironic, I think, that I am a thief, while you see and speak the truth, but the people believe me and scorn you.”

Cassandra was not impressed and replied, “It is true. Most people would prefer a charming falsehood to the severity of truth. Since no one believes me anyway, you might as well tell me what scam you are currently promoting. I am truly interested. Please, do tell.”