Wheat Faces Potential Headwinds

Posted on June 6, 2013 by

When it comes to agricultural commodities, wheat is perhaps one of the most important crops, as this resource is a dietary staple throughout both the emerging market and developed world. Because of this dependence, wheat prices tend to exhibit significant volatility, which can be triggered by a wide array of issues; anything from supply disruptions to extreme weather can easily send the commodity into a tailspin [for more commodity futures news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Agriculture, Commodity Futures, Commodity Producers, Wheat | Tagged | Leave a comment

A Deeper Look At Russia’s Commodity Industry

Posted on March 15, 2013 by

Russia may be the ninth largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product, but its abundance of natural resources in the Ural Mountains, Siberia and the Russian Far East makes it much more important in the world of commodities. The emerging market has long been known for its vast production of some of the most vital commodities in the world. Below, we dissect Russia’s commodity industry to give investors an in-depth look at this BRIC nation [for more commodity news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Agriculture, Aluminum, Energy, Industrial Metals, Natural Gas, Nickel, Palladium, Platinum, Precious Metals, Wheat, WTI | Tagged | 2 Comments

Contango Report: Commodities Facing Uphill Curves

Posted on March 11, 2013 by

Contango is a natural phenomenon in the world of commodity futures. Some view it as an evil that plagues the space, but in reality it is just another pattern that traders can profit from. Contango, simply put, is the process by which futures contracts get more expensive as the maturity dates get further out from spot. While this can hurt a long-term position, savvy traders can use this uphill curve to their advantage. Below, we outline several commodities exhibiting contango to help you make the best trading decisions for your portfolio [for more commodity news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Actionable Ideas, Agriculture, Asset Allocation, Commodity Futures, Energy, Gold, Natural Gas, Palladium, Platinum, Precious Metals, Silver, Trading, Wheat | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Shorter Trading Days For Grain And Soy Traders

Posted on March 7, 2013 by

On Tuesday, the CME Group announced that it will reduce grain and oilseed trading hours to 17.5 hours from 21 hours. This comes after last year’s largely controversial expansion, which got significant backlash from traders, brokers and agricultural companies alike. Managing Director of Agricultural Commodities and Alternative Investments at CME Group, Tim Andriesen stated that “Over the past several months, we have received significant customer feedback about the current CBOT grain trading hours. While there were varying opinions about what the modifications to hours should be, we believe these changes balance the needs of our diverse global customers based on their feedback” [for more commodity news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Agriculture, Commodity Futures, Corn, News and Current Events, Soybeans, Wheat | Leave a comment

How Ags Will React to Last Year’s Drought

Posted on February 17, 2013 by

The agricultural industry was hit hard by the most severe and extensive drought in at least 25 years in 2012, which had an impact on crops, livestock and food prices at all levels. While prices have already started to increase in the fourth quarter of 2012, the majority of the impact on retail food prices will likely be seen throughout 2013, according to a recent report by the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) analyzing the drought [for more agricultural news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Agriculture, Commodity Futures, Corn, Livestock, Soybeans, Wheat | Leave a comment

Contango Report: Precious Metals, Natural Gas, Wheat

Posted on January 9, 2013 by

Contango for commodity traders is as inevitable a phenomenon as taxes; eventually you will come face-to-face with an upward sloping futures curve. In many cases, this simply presents an opportunity to make a play on the respective asset or possibly to re-position current holdings. Contango is most often caused by the storage costs associated with keeping large quantities of commodities in a designated area for a period of time, but it can also reflect market expectations of how a commodity’s price will move. Below, we outline several commodities currently exhibiting contango [for more commodity news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Actionable Ideas, Agriculture, Asset Allocation, Commodity ETFs, Commodity Futures, Energy, Gold, Natural Gas, Precious Metals, Wheat | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Deeper Look At Brazil’s Commodity Industry

Posted on December 15, 2012 by

Due to better governance practices and a commodity boom, Brazil’s economy has enjoyed incredible growth over the past 20 years. Brazil is now the largest economy in Latin America and the sixth or seventh largest economy depending upon the metric used. On the other hand, while Brazil’s GDP per capita has improved, it still ranks at a relatively low 64th in the world – meaning that it is a large economy, but not an especially wealthy one yet (at least not uniformly so). While Brazil has made a concerted effort to build up its manufacturing sector (and reduce the risk of being trapped as a commodity-driven economy), minerals, energy and agriculture are still very significant to the Brazilian economy, as well as the larger global economy [for more commodity news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Academic Research, Agriculture, Aluminum, Biofuels, Coal, Coffee, Commodity ETFs, Commodity Futures, Commodity Producers, Copper, Corn, Energy, Gold, Industrial Metals, Natural Gas, Precious Metals, Soybeans, Steel, Sugar, Wheat | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Best Agriculture ETFs of 2012

Posted on December 14, 2012 by

It was a pretty hectic year for agricultural commodities as the summer months wreaked havoc on prices. After the United States endured the hottest 12-month span on record and an abysmal drought, a number of these staple commodities experienced big movements in price and trading volume alike. But now that 2012 is nearing its close, we look back at these funds throughout the course of the year to see which funds outperformed the rest [for more agriculture news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Agriculture, Commodity ETF Analysis, Commodity ETFs, Soybeans, Wheat | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Inside Citi’s 2013 Agriculture Outlook

Posted on December 11, 2012 by

As 2012 comes to a close, Wall Street begins to look ahead to the coming year and what trends will have the biggest impact on the commodity world. Financial behemoth Citigroup (C) recently came out with an all-encompassing forecast for the next two years for almost every major commodity. Of particular interest was their outlook on ags, as these commodities have been on a wild ride for 2012; one of the hottest summers on record and an extended drought sent futures all over the board [for more agricultural news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].

Posted in Actionable Ideas, Agriculture, Asset Allocation, Commodity Futures, Corn, Soybeans, Wheat | Tagged , | 3 Comments

3 Commodity ETFs To Be Thankful For This Year

Posted on November 22, 2012 by

As is perhaps always the case, commodity markets have had quite an action-packed year thus far. Landmark events, such as President Obama’s re-election and this summer’s massive drought brought on by record-breaking temperatures have propelled many commodities into some volatile swings, rewarding those lucky investors while burning many others. But on this Thanksgiving Day, it is perhaps more appropriate for us to reflect on those commodities we’re particularly grateful for. Below, we highlight three commodity ETFs that have delivered stellar performances thus far in 2012 (YTD returns as of November 20, 2012) [for more commodity ETF news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter]:

Posted in Agriculture, Commodity ETF Analysis, Commodity ETFs, Corn, Energy, Gasoline, Precious Metals, Silver, Soybeans, Wheat | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

  • Subscribe

    • RSS Icon   Twitter Icon
    • Sign up for free today:

  • Search