Markets have been enjoying a rather strong week despite the mixed bag of earnings that have been announced. It seem that the winners are outshining the losers as the S&P 500 was able to top 1,300 for the first time since last year’s U.S. debt downgrade. Futures markets have been particularly active, with a number of contracts moving in both positive and negative directions. Over the past five days, orange juice futures, for example, are up over 18%, while natural gas futures have tanked by roughly 13.5%. In an effort to keep our readers more informed on today’s commodity markets, we outline three of the best commodity articles from around the web this past week [see also 12 High-Yielding Commodities For 2012].
Edward Sterck: Nuclear Energy Markets Tighten at ETF Daily News:
Nuclear energy has been under heavy scrutiny since the Fukushima disaster last year. After the radiation leak in Japan, many were questioning the safety as well as the long-term outlook for nuclear energy. While some analysts have written off the Fukushima accident as an outlier, others have taken it to heart. Germany, for example, will stop all nuclear power facilities within the coming decade, a major blow to the industry. Edward Sterck is an analyst with BMO financial and was recently interviewed by The Energy Report on his outlook on nuclear and uranium, and how investors can make a play on this sector.
Precious Metals Monitor: Major Analysts Decisively Bullish On Gold In 2012 at Hard Assets Investor:
Gold has been one of the most talked about commodities over the past few years, as its meteoric rise has caught the eye of investors around the world. With the metal bursting through the $1,900 mark in 2011, it steep losses in the following months have been well documented. Now, many feel that gold may be sitting at enticingly low levels for investors who want to buy in to the precious metal before it makes another run to the top. This article, by Sumit Roy, details the outlook for gold in 2012 as told my a number of analysts from around the financial world.
Iran Tensions And Crude Oil: What It Means For Your Portfolio at CommodityHQ:
Crude oil is arguably the most widely-traded commodity in the world as it has it hands in a number of processes in our every day lives. The past few months have seen oil swing violently back and forth due to tensions in Libya, but the focus has now shifted over to Iran. Conflicts are arising between Iran and a number of other countries as they are threatening to shut down a body of water that sees a large portion of the world’s oil travel through it. This article details the current Iranian conflict, how it may affect crude oil, and how it can impact your individual portfolio.
Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.
