Analysis Topic: Commodity Markets - Metals, Softs & Oils

The analysis published under this topic are as follows.

Friday, March 09, 2012

Natural Gas Fracking Boom Turns Sour / Commodities / Natural Gas

By: Andrew_McKillop

Exxon Mobil's CEO Rex Tillerson, unveiling bad news on Exxon's intense program to develop shale and stranded gas resources, said March 8th that some shale formations in Europe and China are impervious to drilling techniques that opened vast reserves of US natural gas and identified potential shale oil reserves, from Texas and Pennsylvania to North Dakota. He concluded that new methods and techniques will need to be invented to tap many of the shale fields that energy companies and governments across the world, with a few exceptions hope eventually will yield a bonanza of gas and then oil.

Friday, March 09, 2012

Gold and Silver Down on Week, Stocks and Dollar Rally Following U.S. Nonfarms Release / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Ben_Traynor

SPOT MARKET gold prices fell by over $20 an ounce within one hour Friday lunchtime in London, while stock markets rallied along with the Dollar immediately following the release of monthly US jobs data.

Dollar gold prices fell over 1% to below $1680 per ounce, while silver prices fell to $33.25 per ounce, while other commodities were relatively flat on the day.

Friday, March 09, 2012

Strong Silver Price in 2012 as Strengthening Investment and Industrial Demand / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: GoldCore

Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,699.50, EUR 1,285.36, and GBP 1,078.30 per ounce.

Yesterday's AM fix was USD 1,701.50, EUR 1,287.26 and GBP 1,076.70 per ounce.

Friday, March 09, 2012

Dude, Where’s my Gold? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Jan_Skoyles

Amid reports of Germany and Switzerland requesting their gold from the United States, Jan Skoyles asks why do they want it back considering their monetary policies?  The repatriation of gold is a growing topic of interest since Venezuela demonstrated how much value they place on their gold reserves. With escalating gold prices, growing gold investment demand and faltering Western economies is it any wonder German and Swiss politicians are asking where their gold is.

Friday, March 09, 2012

Gold Stocks: Tread Carefully / Commodities / Gold & Silver Stocks

By: Bob_Kirtley

Clarity of vision can be lost in the everyday hustle and bustle of market gyrations, news events, political posturing and the whirlwind of activity that is our daily labor. So, from time to time we need to recap by establishing just what it is that we are trying to attain. It is said that if we can state the problem clearly we are half way to the answer, so here we go:

Question: What is it that we are trying to achieve?

Friday, March 09, 2012

The Nuclear Power Revival / Commodities / Nuclear Power

By: The_Energy_Report

Emerging from the shadow of Fukushima, the nuclear sector is on the cusp of a comeback, according to Mark Lackey, chief investment strategist with Toronto-based Pope & Company. Nuclear plants have been reopened, and as many as 200 new plants worldwide are scheduled to come online. At the same time, uranium supply shortages loom on the horizon, making for bullish fundamentals for uranium miners. Lackey's faith in the coal sectors also burns brightly. He reveals his favorites in both sectors in this exclusive Energy Report interview.

Thursday, March 08, 2012

The Story Behind US Gas Price Pain / Commodities / Gas - Petrol

By: Marin_Katusa

Marin Katusa, Casey Research writes: Gasoline consumption in the United States has been dropping for years. In the last decade, vehicle fuel efficiency has improved by 20%, and the combination of that shift and a weak economy of late has pushed gasoline demand to its lowest level in a decade.

At the same time, US oil production is at its highest level in a decade. Deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico and horizontal fracs in the Bakken shale have turned America's domestic oil production scene around. After 20 years of declining production, US crude output rates started to climb in 2008 and have increased every year since.

Thursday, March 08, 2012

Gold Remains in Consolidation / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Jordan_Roy_Byrne

With Gold's failure at $1800, it should be obvious that the market is in a protracted consolidation. This is actually similar to 2006-2007 and it is something we wrote about in a missive in early January. At the time, Gold had bottomed and had the luxury of very strong support nearby. We believed Gold would be range bound, but because it was emerging from support, it would have an upward bias. With Gold's failure at $1800, now we can say range-bound with a downward bias.

Thursday, March 08, 2012

Spot the Bubble / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Mario_Innecco

The chart below plots the Federal Reserve System's total assets, the European Central Bank's total assets and the price of gold over time.

Thursday, March 08, 2012

Gold Spectacular Rally Pending a Trigger / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Hubert_Moolman

Gold just needs a trigger to launch it for the most spectacular rally since the late 70’s. I believe that trigger is likely to be the crash (or decline) of the stock markets.

This crash, if it occurs, is in anticipation of the inevitable bursting of the debt bubble. This is much like during the Great Depression when the stock markets crashed and bottomed before Total Debt as a % of GDP peaked in 1933. The Sovereign Debt-Crisis (especially in Europe) is the obvious sign that the debt bubble is bursting; with every additional unit of debt producing less or no increased GDP.

Thursday, March 08, 2012

Asia Buys Gold Whilst the West Sells / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: GoldCore

Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,701.50, EUR 1,287.26, and GBP 1,076.70 per ounce.

Yesterday's AM fix was USD 1682.50, EUR 1278.69 and GBP 1068.53 per ounce.

Thursday, March 08, 2012

Does Gold Still Sparkle for Morgan Stanley and Germany? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Eric_McWhinnie

It has been a rough week for precious metals. On Tuesday, renewed Greek concerns drove gold down $32 to close at $1,672.10 per ounce. It was gold’s lowest close and first time settling below $1,700 since late January. Meanwhile, silver fell 91 cents to end the day at $32.78 per ounce. Although gold prices have pulled back recently, Morgan Stanley and Germany appear to still have plenty of interest in the precious metal.

Thursday, March 08, 2012

Why U.S. Government Confiscated Gold in 1933, Can it Happen Again? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Julian_DW_Phillips

Easily Revoked Privilege

We previously stated that gold ownership was made illegal on 1st May 1933. What we did not tell you was that U.S. citizens, under Order 6102, were allowed to own up to $100 in gold coin [+5 ounces]. Today that would be worth under $8,400, a mere token gesture to real gold owners. It acted as a tiny escape valve to the general body of citizens and did not detract from the fact that effective gold ownership was abolished. So that we fully understand the attitude of governments to gold, which remains real money in times of crisis, we add this paragraph:

Thursday, March 08, 2012

Gold Investing, When to be Greedy? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: UnpuncturedCycle

There aren’t many things that are certain in life, but there is one thing can be written in stone. Fear and greed run the markets! It’s been that way since tulips were all the rage. The problem with the markets is that you have to buy when everybody is fearful and sell when everybody is greedy, and that goes against human nature. With respect to gold this human defect is magnified to a much larger degree, and is complicated by the fact that gold is perhaps the only market where greed and fear can work together. For years I have tried to convince readers to buy dips and sit through the declines, but to little avail. Gold is the only market I do that with and for good reason.

Thursday, March 08, 2012

Gold and Silver, Are you buying the weakness or selling it? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Chad_Bennis

Gold and silver appear to have bottomed yesterday on good ‘ole turn around Tuesday. Greece’s drama is just drama thatvleads to fear, but always moves forward. Greece has given traders one of the best opportunities for buying in the past 9 months. Each time Greece’s problems scare the weak hands it allows the stronger players to pick up great positions to sell into strength.

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Bernanke Spooks Gold / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: John_Browne

This past week, gold and silver experienced one of their steeper drops in recent months. After gold had touched a four month high, and silver came close to a six month high, prices abruptly reversed course. By the end of the week gold had sold off more than 5 percent, and silver was down almost 10 percent (down 6.5 percent on Leap Day alone). Often, such sudden price falls create downward momentum. And it looks as if that may be the case this week. Thus far this week silver has dipped 3 percent.

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Gold Falls Below 200-Day Average, Technical Analysts Point to Below $1600 / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Adrian_Ash

THE WHOLESALE SILVER and gold price rallied from 6-week lows Wednesday morning in Asian and London, recovering 2.1% and 1.0% respectively as world stock markets also bounced.

Crude oil recovered from a 2-week low at $105 per barrel, but the European single currency failed to hold an early rise ahead of Thursday's Greek debt-restructuring deadline.

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

The Face of Gold and Silver Price Volatility / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Jeff_Clark

Jeff Clark, Casey Research writes: On February 29, gold dropped 4.8% and silver 6.2% (based on London fix prices). That's quite the fall for one day. We've seen prices that have risen that much, too. But as I'm about to show, these ain't nothin', baby.

Based on our experience, we've been saying for some time that volatility will increase as the markets fight their way to the mania phase of this cycle - and that once there, the gyrations will jump even higher. This call doesn't exactly require one to go out on a limb; it makes sense since more investors will be crowding in - and volatility was high in the 1979-'80 mania.

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

From Fracking to Fuel Cells Investors Can Capitalize on the Energy Revolution / Commodities / Energy Resources

By: The_Energy_Report

For investors seeking high potential returns and the thrill of participating in market innovation, the smallcap energy space is where it's at. Managing Director and Co-Founder Laird Cagan of merchant bank Cagan McAfee Capital Partners has built his career by backing companies that are both filling current demand and creating new markets. In this exclusive interview with The Energy Report, Cagan shares his experiences and discusses several companies at the forefront of the energy revolution.

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Gold Falls to 6-Week Low / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Ben_Traynor

SPOT MARKET prices for gold bullion hit a six-week low of $1682 an ounce Tuesday lunchtime in London – a fall of 1.8% from last week's close – as stocks, commodities and the Euro continued their recent slide and uncertainty hung over recent European agreements.

Silver bullion dropped to $33.14 per ounce this morning – a 4.8% loss since the start of the week.
"We remain bearish so long as we remain below...the breached uptrend, currently at $1768," says the latest note from technical analysts at gold bullion dealing bank Scotia Mocatta.