Copper Stocks To Play The Housing Recovery
As the main culprit responsible for the credit crisis and resulting Great Recession, the U.S. housing market has spent much of the last few years in the doldrums. The combination of shaky mortgage loans, falling home values, and rising foreclosure rates really took a toll on the overall sector. Over the last few years, housing-related stocks have seen their share prices dwindle as a lack of available credit, and general deleveraging has prevented many from home ownership. However, recent data may support a turnaround is in the works for the all-important sector.
Commodity Alert: Obama And Bernanke Sing The Budget Blues
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].
Industrial Metals Lose Their Luster
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].
A Deeper Look At Brazil’s Commodity Industry
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].
The Best and Worst Industrial Metals ETFs of 2012
As 2012 draws to an end, investors are taking time to reflect on some of the best and worst performing commodities of the year. Though the year’s headlines have been dominated by energy and precious metals, there are a number of assets that have flown relatively under the radar. Industrial metals are among the most practical commodities on the market given their wide use in our everyday lives, but they rarely receive attention over something like gold or oil. Below, we outline the performances of some of the biggest industrial metals for 2012 [for more industrial metal news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].
3 Commodities For A Housing Recovery
Homebuilders and other housing industry stocks have been strong performers in 2012 as low interest rates offset higher underwriting standards for home loans. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) rose more than 54% since the beginning of this year, while the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) is up more than 74% over the same period [for more housing news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].
Inside A Slaughter: Why Freeport McMoRan (FCX) Lost 16%
Trading in the overall market was relatively normal yesterday; your average worry about the fiscal cliff and Europe snuck their way in, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. That is, until you looked at Freeport-McMoRan’s (FCX) stock for the day. This major copper and gold producer was absolutely slaughtered, as investors participated in one of the nastiest sell-offs we have seen in recent weeks. But the massive drop had nothing to do with the commodities they produce, but rather a questionable business move that left many scratching their heads [for more copper and gold news subscribe to our free newsletter].
High Yielding Commodities: Beyond Energy
In a low rate and relatively uncertain economic environment, dividend yields have been the saving grace of many portfolios. A steady stream of income goes a long way, especially when markets are rocky, as they have been for the latter part of this year. But one problem that many commodity investors face is combining crucial exposure to the hard assets segment while still finding palpable yields [for more commodity dividend news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].
Physical Copper ETFs? Not So Fast
For more than two years now, issuers like JP Morgan and iShares have been battling to bring physically-backed copper ETFs to the markets. At first glance, it seems like a solid idea; after all, GLD and SLV are two of the most popular ETFs in the world, and each of them offers physical exposure to their respective metals. Yet the proposed copper products remain in the doldrums, as the red tape and roadblocks seem to be endless for these proposed products [for more copper news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].
Gold, Copper, Platinum Stuck In Contango
As traders try to make their way through the volatile and often dangerous world of commodities, the futures curve is one of the most important aspects to focus on. Many traders look for contangoed curves to either make savvy trades or avoid potential blunders for their portfolio. Contango, the process by which near month futures are cheaper than those expiring further into the future, is often caused by storage costs of hard assets, but can also be a reflection of future price expectations. In this iteration of our contango report, we focus on three key metals for investors to keep an eye on [for more information on commodities in contango subscribe to our free newsletter].
