Contango Report: Metals Stare at Rising Prices
As the summer months continue, a number of commodities hit a turning point in their seasonality, triggering movements in their prices and expectations of future prices. As such, taking a look at commodities exhibiting contango is a healthy exercise to ensure that you have a firm grasp on the current state of the hard asset world. As a quick reminder, contango is the process whereby near month futures are cheaper than those expiring further into the future, creating an upward sloping curve for future prices over time [for more commodity news and analysis subscribe to our free newsletter].
The Billion Dollar Copper Theft Industry
For years now, the U.S. has been plagued by an illegal industry driven by a reddish-brown industrial metal. Copper, one of the world’s most popular and demanded metals, has been the subject of an underground movement that has created an incentive to steal. Thieves all across the country have been harvesting the metal in homes and highways, and other structures that are under construction; some even go as far as to steal the metal from already built establishments [for more copper 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].
Schiff: The Fed Wants To Inflate Housing
Renown and rather outspoken investor Peter Schiff has taken a shot at the Fed in his most recent statements, as he accuses them of trying to inflate the economy. To be specific, Schiff thinks that Bernanke and company want to inflate the housing bubble, which burst in 2007 and had a devastating impact on our economy. “But you can’t blow up a bubble that has already burst. It has too many holes” said Schiff [for more inflation 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].
GDX vs. SIL vs. CU: How They’ve Performed So Far In 2012
It has been an interesting year for investors and traders focused on the metals. While ongoing economic uncertainty and recent additional monetary stimulus from the Fed has kept gold in the news, silver has quietly had a strong run as well. Amidst that uncertainty, industrial metals like copper have not done nearly so well [for more commodity news subscribe to our free newsletter].
Ultimate Guide To Copper Investing
Copper is one of the oldest metals, having been used as currency more than ten thousand years ago. Copper has also been instrumental in the development of human civilization, playing a key role in various developments throughout history. Copper’s widespread use has not diminished; it is still one of the most widely-used industrial metals, a key component of construction activity and other industrial uses around the globe. It has also become popular as an investable asset, acting as both a potential inflation hedge as well as an opportunity to profit from increased demand for raw materials from emerging markets. There are a number of different options for investing in copper, including exchange-traded futures contracts, stocks of companies engaged in the extraction and sale of the metal, and both physically-backed and futures-based ETFs and ETNs [see also Company Spotlight: Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX)].
