Commodity Alert: Obama And Bernanke Sing The Budget Blues

Posted on February 28, 2013 by

In Ben Bernanke’s testimony on the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report before the Senate Banking Committee this week, the Fed Chairman signaled that the central bank would continue its stimulus policies, citing that the economic landscape still possesses several red flags. And while this may have quelled fears that the Fed would wind down or scale back its massive bond-buying program earlier-than-expected, investors still remain on edge [For more commodity news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Actionable Ideas, Commodity Futures, Copper, Energy, Gold, Industrial Metals, News and Current Events, Precious Metals, Silver, WTI | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

BHP Billiton (BHP) Fights To Stay In Trading Channel

Posted on February 27, 2013 by

Much to the bears’ frustration, last week’s profit-taking wave was very short lived despite the countless experts who continue to call for a market top every time equity indexes post a fresh high. Although bargain buyers have been quick to step in at every pullback, this recent sell-off may hold more weight from a technical perspective. Last week’s bearish pressures dragged the S&P 500 Index below the 1,500 mark, which is a psychologically important support level. Failure to settle above this level in the coming days could welcome accelerating selling pressures, which should pave the way higher for gold; gold is still struggling to recover from its steep losses over the past two weeks  [for more market news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Commodity Trading Outlook, Commodity Trading Trends, Industrial Metals, Trading | Tagged | 1 Comment

Industrial Metals Lose Their Luster

Posted on February 26, 2013 by

The industrial metal space has been struggling to gain traction as of late, as a cloudy forecast for the global economy has left these commodities in limbo. But that was not before many made strong runs in the past decade. According to Bloomberg, “six primary metals more than tripled in the 10 years to 2012.” These highs have started warding off a number of buyers as many fear a slowdown in key markets like China and other emerging economies [for more industrial metal news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Copper, Industrial Metals, Lead, Tin, Zinc | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Exploring More Gold/Silver Manipulation Theories

Posted on February 25, 2013 by

Gold and silver have always been subject to claims that major institutions have been manipulating prices. In some cases, such price manipulation has even been proven, opening the door for further suspicion from investors around the world. It seems that as the years go on, more and more investors hop on board with these theories, with Eric Sprott, CEO of Sprott Asset Management, being one of the latest heavy-hitters to weigh in [for more precious metals news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Commodity Futures, Gold, Precious Metals, Silver | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Getting Ready For Sugar Trading Swings

Posted on February 24, 2013 by

Despite continued rising demand pressures from emerging markets, many natural resources still operate on a cyclical bias. For example, natural gas demand and prices generally rise in the winter as more people begin to heat their homes. Conversely, when the weather is warmer, natural gas supplies build and prices drop. For investors or traders, using commodities’ various seasonal and cyclical patterns can prove profitable [for commodity news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Actionable Ideas, Agriculture, Asset Allocation, Commodity ETFs, Commodity Futures, Sugar | Leave a comment

Company Profile: Exxon Mobil

Posted on February 23, 2013 by

The global oil and gas industry is enormous, and serving the endless global appetite for oil and gas has propelled many companies into the realm of the mega-caps. Were they independent entities, the revenues of companies like Exxon Mobil (XOM), BP (BP) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) would be such that they’d be among the 30-largest countries by GDP. Not surprisingly, that makes them highly significant stocks as well [for more oil and gas news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Actionable Ideas, Commodity Futures, Commodity Producers, commodityHQ.edu, Energy, Natural Gas, WTI | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Uranium Stages A Comeback

Posted on February 22, 2013 by

Uranium may be coming back into play two years after the Fukushima disaster, as Japan looks to restart some of its idle reactors and global supplies look to tighten a bit. Larger companies operating in the space have already seen their share prices begin to recover over the past couple months as these fundamentals improve, with Cameco Corp (CCJ) up 9.5%, Denison Mines Corp (DNN) up 7.2% and Uranerz Energy Corp (URZ) up about 1%. But many investors are wondering if this recovery will persist in the coming months [for more uranium news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Commodity Futures, Commodity Producers, Rare Earth/Strategic Metals | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Bloggers Battle Rare Earths Miner

Posted on February 21, 2013 by

As the world’s voracious appetite for all things commodity continues to grow, it is perhaps no surprise to see frequent backlash from the public, particularly eco-conscious groups. In recent months, Sydney-based mining firm Lynas (LYC.AU) has fallen under the media spotlight as an unlikely opponent managed to gather enough support to disrupt the company’s plans to expand its operations. With the support of Twitter, Facebook and the good ol’ world wide web, retired math teacher Tan Bun Teet and his “Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas” campaigners have drawn nationwide support through an internet-based campaign to challenge the environmental impact of the rare earths mining company’s refinery plans [for more rare earths news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Commodity Producers, News and Current Events, Rare Earth/Strategic Metals | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Trade The Channel In Deere & Co. (DE)

Posted on February 20, 2013 by

The bull train continues full steam ahead on Wall Street much to the bears’ growing frustration. Major equity indexes are still relentlessly climbing higher, posting fresh multi-year highs by the day it seems. Every minor pullback on the stock front has welcomed buyers, showcasing the sheer euphoria permeating the marketplace, which is rightfully making some worried that a steep correction is lurking just around the corner. Commodities overall continue to drift lower as the strengthening U.S. dollar is keeping a lid on spot prices [for more market news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Agriculture, Commodity Trading Outlook, Commodity Trading Trends, Trading | Tagged | Leave a comment

Is Commodity Investing Dying? Part 2

Posted on February 19, 2013 by

In yesterday’s article we outlined some of the reasons why people are accusing commodity investing of fading from long-term portfolios. Research has shown that a number of major institutions have been pulling funds from commodity allocations in recent months, and the returns on broad indexes have been relatively volatile in the past few years. Still, there are two sides to every story, and while major financial institutions may be re-allocating, there are plenty of others who are staying put in the hard asset space [for more commodity news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Actionable Ideas, Asset Allocation, Commodity ETFs, commodityHQ.edu, Gold, Precious Metals | Tagged , , | 3 Comments