The back and forth markets that ensued over the past week made it difficult for commodities to find their footing, as a number of big name assets lost ground over the trailing five days. Among the biggest losers were cotton and cocoa, as the soft commodities are known for their inability to handle volatile markets. Gold was also a loser, though not as severe, which may create an interesting buying opportunity for traders and investors who have a soft spot for this hard asset. As for the week’s winners, lumber and brent crude oil were able to post meager gains, but it was a slow week for the overall commodity space. In an effort to keep investors up to date in today’s fast-paced commodity world, we outline three of the best stories from around the web this past week [see also The Ten Commandments of Commodity Investing]:
Minor Gold Correction Ends, Rally To $1800 Resumes at Hard Assets Investor:
Gold bugs have long sworn by the performance of their favorite precious metal. Though its movements have been volatile in recent months, gold has been one of the best performing assets of the past few years, attracting a significant amount of attention. Recently, investors watched gold bottom out to well below $1,600/oz, prompting many to predict a further gold correction, while others simply saw it as undervalued. Now, gold seems to have found its groove again as 2012 has seen the commodity shoot higher. This article, by Sumit Roy, details the near term future for gold as well as the remaining three precious metals.
MLPs—Wall Street’s Best-Kept Secret: Yves Siegel at The Energy Report:
MLPs have been growing in popularity in recent years, as investors have found the perfect way to combine commodity exposure with a safer equity twist. Another big draw to these funds comes from their high dividend yields, as income investors find the steady stream of income a must for any portfolio. This article features an exclusive interview with Credit Suisse analyst Yves Siegel and takes an in depth look at how MLPs work and why Siegel thinks they are such a prominent investment in today’s environment.
Doomsday Special: 7 Hard Asset Investments You Can Hold in Your Hand at CommodityHQ:
The appeal of commodity investing has long been the fact that one can physically hold a number of the underlying assets in their hand, as opposed to stocks and bonds which sometimes seem out of sight, out of mind. But when it comes to commodities, investors sometimes forget that there are a number of obscure assets they may not be traded on any sort of index. This article, by Stoyan Bojinov, details seven hard assets that you can hold in your hand, and can help you survive any sort of market crash.
Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.
