Three Commodities To Watch in Q4
As we wrap up the third quarter of 2012, many look ahead to finalize their portfolios for the year. By most equity standards, 2012 has been a very successful year, but the same cannot be said for commodities. As always, the commodity industry has picked its darlings and singled out its laggards, making profits for some and drawing up big losses for others. With nine months of the year in the bag, it will be a good time to reassess your holdings to see if it may be the right time to reallocate or if there are more promising opportunities out there [for more commodity news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].
The Five Minute Guide to Cocoa ETFs
There may be no words to adequately describe what a chocoholic feels as he or she indulges their taste for anything and everything chocolate. Now, thanks to advancements made in the investment markets, chocoholics and anyone else can make money from the global craze for chocolate through an investment in cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate.
China, The 800 lb. Gorilla
A positive GDP number out of China influences commodities today. I think today was an overreaction, but a good sign medium and longer term. Crude picked up 1% today and has quickly pulled away from the very critical $100 mark with prices approaching $104/barrel. I maintain that if we stay below $104 on a settlement basis going into the weekend we will see a sub $100 trade next week. My target remains 97.50 in May futures. I believe, today, the case was the strength in the distillates lifted Crude.
Three Worst Performing Commodity ETFs Over The Last Three Years
Ever since markets crashed in 2008, investors have been slowly increasing their risk appetites, shifting towards more lucrative and risky asset classes such as commodities. Some investments in this category have flourished, while others haven’t fared so well. Natural gas is perhaps the first cringe-worthy commodity that comes to mind as investors witnessed its unprecedented free fall over the last few years. But with NG and some of the other big losers comes a potential buy in opportunity at rock bottom prices. Whether you’re looking for a bargain or simply want to avoid these bad-performing funds, we outline 3 of the worst performing commodity ETPs over the last three years. Note that this list is a bit modified in that we only chose one fund from each commodity type [see also 12 High-Yielding Commodities For 2012].
50 Ways To Invest In Agriculture
The agriculture sector has long been a popular place for commodity trading. After all, it was with agricultural futures that commodity trading got its start. Farmers had originally used these contracts to help offset any losses in crop yields. Now, the agricultural space has blossomed into a market chock full of options for investors, but many investors are still unaware of the vast opportunities that this sector offers [see also Invest Like Jim Rogers With These Three Agriculture Stocks]. No matter what kind of investor you are, there is certainly an agriculture/agribusiness option that fits your investment style. Below, we outline 50 ways to invest in agriculture to help investors pick the correct security for their portfolio:
Hot Commodities: Cocoa Futures Soaring
Cocoa, one of the most popular soft commodities, has been surging to start off 2012 after a rough end to last year. From their high point in March, cocoa futures endured a drop of more than 41% through the end of 2011. But this year is already looking up, with futures up approximately 7.6% through the first half of January. In fact, the only commodity to turn in a better performance over the two week period was orange juice. The big story for cocoa last year came from the Ivory Coast which suffered through a civil war that put significant pressures on the production from the world’s most significant cocoa nation. But this year seems to be a different story, and the start of a trend that may help traders rake in some healthy gains [see also Ultimate Guide To Cocoa Investing].
Weekly Agriculture Roundup: Hot Cocoa
Like just about every other asset class, agricultural commodities have been on a wild ride over the last several trading sessions, fluctuating along with equity markets as investors have tried to evaluate the latest news out of Europe. The last week has generally been a strong stretch for agricultural and soft commodities, as a rally in stock markets and return to risky assets has created a wave of moderate optimism among investors. The following table shows the performance of several popular commodity exchange-traded products for the week ended November 8. It should be noted that each of the funds included below utilizes futures contracts to achieve its stated objectives; as such, returns may not be reflective of changes in spot prices:
