Analysis Topic: Commodity Markets - Metals, Softs & Oils
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Thursday, July 05, 2012
Russia & Brazil’s Strategic Alliance Continue / Commodities / Metals & Mining
By: Anthony_David
Russia and Brazil, both major commodity nations, make a strategic pair with Russia ranking among the world’s top producers in the energy and metals sectors while Brazil is a strong exporter of agricultural products, cars, machinery and iron ore. Trade between the two countries grew five-fold in the period from 2002-2008. In 2010 Brazil and Russia entered into an agreement to boost trade between their countries and enter into strategic partnerships in the areas of energy, infrastructure and space exploration.
Thursday, July 05, 2012
India Profits from Downturn in World Steel Production / Commodities / Metals & Mining
By: Anthony_David
The EU crisis and global recessionary trends have dampened steel production. With lowered prices and falling demand, steel producers are looking to cut costs by shutting down unprofitable plants. According to researcher World Steel Dynamics, prices for hot rolled steel have fallen by 12% since February 2012 and a further drop in price is expected. Capacity utilization is also down to 76% from 80%. To keep prices stable in the current global environment, steel production needs to slow down. Germany’s ThyssenKrupp AG is trying to sell its loss-making sheet-metal plant in Alabama, while Arcelor-Mittal has closed a Belgian plant and is idling some of its other plants.
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Thursday, July 05, 2012
The Return of the Gold Standard / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Peter_Schiff
In my latest book, The Real Crash: America's Coming Bankruptcy - How to Save Yourself and Your Country, I devote a full chapter to the merits of the historical gold standard and reasons to reinstate it. What I did not mention and few investors notice is that central banks are already returning to gold as the ultimate safe haven asset.
I believe this change in policy, combined with continued inflation of Western currencies, is creating a stable floor for the gold price and an even brighter upside potential.
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Thursday, July 05, 2012
SocGen Advises "Holding Gold Tight" as ECB, China Cut Rates, UK Prints Another £50bn / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Adrian_Ash
WHOLESALE Dollar prices to buy gold eased 0.5% from a new 2-week high at $1624 per ounce Thursday lunchtime in London, as the Euro currency fell hard following a widely expected cut to European Central Bank interest rates.
The ECB cut its key lending rate to a new record low of 0.75%, and also cut the interest rate paid to commercial banks holding cash on deposit at the central bank to zero.
Thursday, July 05, 2012
Expected ECB Rate Cut Likely to Push Gold Prices Up / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: GoldCore
Today’s AM fix was USD 1616.75, EUR 1292.99 and GBP 1037.58 per ounce.Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1617.00, EUR 1285.37 and GBP 1032.90 per ounce.
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Wednesday, July 04, 2012
The Godmother Ran Out Of Luck: Saudi And Global Oil / Commodities / Crude Oil
By: Andrew_McKillop
In a recent (29 June) Market Oracle article, Andrew Butter writes: "One suspects that behind the Saudi rhetoric about keeping oil prices fair for the sake of the world economy and world peace…like a modern day fairy-godmother-of-last-resort, there is the thought that if prices stay above $120 or so for long then some serious E&P investment is going to get directed into that area, rather like the investment in the North Sea in the 1970’s which kept prices a long way lower than “fair”…until that oil ran out".
Quite right, but the not-so-new Saudi Nice Price of $75 is now cheap oil, and itself proves we have Peak Oil in a wholly unexpected way.
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
Gold "Helped by Short Covering" / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Ben_Traynor
WHOLESALE MARKET gold prices held steady around $1615 an ounce during Wednesday morning's London trading – 1.1% up on last week's close – while stocks edged lower and the Dollar gained, amid reports that the European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates tomorrow.
A day earlier, gold prices rallied as high as $1624 an ounce during Tuesday's US trading, the last trading day before today's Independence Day holiday.
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Wednesday, July 04, 2012
Falling Crude Oil Prices Offer Great Stock Buying Opportunities / Commodities / Oil Companies
By: The_Energy_Report
The "experts" had been talking about oil prices going to $130 per barrel. Now there's talk of $50–60 per barrel oil. Either end of that spectrum is not sustainable in the long run, says Byron King. In this exclusive interview with The Energy Report, he explains why he believes prices will settle in the $80–100 range. In the meantime, the recent pullback offers some interesting buying opportunities for investors ready to pounce when the market finds a bottom, as well as some names investors can nibble on right now.
The Energy Report: Things have been pretty hectic on the global economic and financial fronts lately and the energy markets seem to be defying the expectations and predictions of many analysts. What's your take on where we are and where things are headed?
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Wednesday, July 04, 2012
Which Course Will North American Natural Gas Producers Choose? / Commodities / Natural Gas
By: Marin_Katusa
Marin Katusa, Casey Research writes:
News of a "monster" natural gas find in British Columbia has one again highlighted that North Americans need to make a choice. Do we want to keep the huge volumes of natural gas that have been discovered in recent years across the continent landlocked and transportable only by pipeline, or should we develop the infrastructure that will enable us to transport this fuel to the gas-hungry markets of Asia?
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
Unconventional Oil is NOT a Game Changer / Commodities / Crude Oil
By: Raul_I_Meijer
Oil prices have been falling.
This is no surprise to us here at The Automatic Earth, as our position is that the 2008 price peak will stand for a very long time, and that the rise from the 2009 low has been a counter-trend rally. Prices of many assets have been moving with the ebb and flow of confidence, and therefore of liquidity, in this era of extreme financialization, and commodities are no exception.
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Wednesday, July 04, 2012
Gold Stocks, How Undervalued? Part2 / Commodities / Gold & Silver Stocks
By: Neil_Charnock
Continued from the last article...
Something missing here?
There is another important factor left out of this research train of thought however; and that is 'cost of production'. We have to be careful to get this right or we could end up comparing apples to oranges. Therefore to complete this line of reasoning we have to consider the profitability factor. Cash costs are confusing across the industry because they are not standardized. Royalties and other factors vary from company to company and lease to lease.
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Tuesday, July 03, 2012
"QE3 Probability" Could Boost Gold Price / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Ben_Traynor
SPOT MARKET gold prices traded close to $1610 an ounce for most of Tuesday morning in London, after breaking through the $1600 mark during the earlier Asian session.
Silver prices touched $28 an ounce for the first time in nearly two weeks, while stocks and commodities also gained after disappointing US manufacturing data led to renewed speculation that the Federal Reserve might launch a third round of quantitative easing, known as QE3.
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Tuesday, July 03, 2012
Did the EU Summit Affect Gold? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Eric_McWhinnie
The markets rallied last week as European leaders made progress at a two-day summit in Brussels. European Union participants said they would speed up plans to create a single supervisor to regulate the region’s banking system, and also agreed that EU bailout funds should be used to directly increase capital of struggling banks. The news was a surprise to traders, but little has changed in the big picture.
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Tuesday, July 03, 2012
Gold Stocks the Way to Benefit from Gold Bullion Price Strength / Commodities / Gold & Silver Stocks
By: The_Gold_Report
Henk J. Krasenberg, analyst and founder of the European Gold Centre and author and publisher of the GOLDVIEW newsletter, sees no lack of potential among small-cap equities, especially for investors willing to look beyond the U.S. borders. He offers names in Europe and Africa—what he calls "the poorest and richest continent"—and reminds us that Mexico produces a lot more than silver. In this exclusive Gold Report interview, Krasenberg counsels patience because "you have to wait for the development."
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
Gold and Silver Paper Sellers Conveniently Trapped / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Dr_Jeff_Lewis
The large and mostly naked holders of short positions in precious metals are conveniently trapped, especially in the silver market. Covering in any meaningful way would blow the U.S. Dollar's cover.
The Dollar’s increasingly serious valuation issues are also being ignored, but this may only last as long as the Euro continues to remain in the currency market’s spotlight as a target for selling pressure as Europe’s debt problems deepen.
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Tuesday, July 03, 2012
The Gold to Silver Price Ratio and the Surge in Silver Jewelry Buying / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Dr_Jeff_Lewis
Some would say that the gold to silver price ratio is meaningless.
Others debate whether it will revert back to historic values maintained at a level mandated by law or policy, or if it will be based on actual above and below ground supply. Above ground investment grade silver is reversed, with five times more gold, while estimates indicate that nine times more silver than gold remains to be mined.
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Tuesday, July 03, 2012
Investing in Green Energy Through Big Oil Companies / Commodities / Oil Companies
By: InvestmentContrarian
Sasha Cekerevac writes: There is a growing movement to invest in green energy. The thinking behind this movement is that oil stocks are bad and green energy is good. That type of black-and-white thinking is silly, and it doesn’t appreciate that in life, everything is a shade of gray.
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Monday, July 02, 2012
Is Oil Overvalued? Or are we just seeing temporary weakness in the Price of Crude Oil / Commodities / Crude Oil
By: Submissions
By Larry Cyna:
Canadian Oil Sands Prices as an Indicator
In recent months there has been an anomaly between world oil prices and the price of oil coming out of the Canadian Oil Sands. Because of transportation issues Canadian heavy oil has been receiving less value than the world price of oil. They say that this is a temporary anomaly and perhaps it is so. But this differential is but an indication of weakness in the price of oil everywhere.
Monday, July 02, 2012
Gold Price Could Benefit from Policymakers Actions / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Ben_Traynor
U.S. DOLLAR gold bullion prices hit $1597 an ounce during Monday morning trading in London – in line with where they ended last week – while European stock markets ticked higher following the release of better-than-expected European manufacturing data.
"Gold still remains in the same range since early May," say technical analysts at bullion bank Scotia Mocatta, adding that gold "would have to move above trendline resistance [at $1624] to reverse the bearish posture."
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Monday, July 02, 2012
Why Deflation is the Biggest Catalyst for Gold and Silver / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
By: Jordan_Roy_Byrne
By now, everyone has seen the chart of Homestake Mining and its bull market run from 1924 through 1935. Hence, there is no need to repost it. In this editorial, Frank Barbera shows a handful of charts of gold stocks and gold stock indices during the Depression era. US Gold producers apparently bottomed in 1929 while the Financial Times Gold Index bottomed in 1931. The time to buy the gold stocks was when deflation set in. More recently, the time to buy gold stocks and physical (Gold or Silver) has coincided with fears of deflation.