Analysis Topic: Commodity Markets - Metals, Softs & Oils

The analysis published under this topic are as follows.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Why Copper Is a Critical Metal / Commodities / Copper

By: Critical_Metals_Repo

Copper is often referred to as "Dr. Copper," the metal with a Ph.D. in economics. Yet most analysts don't view it as a critical metal. In this interview with The Critical Metals Report, Mickey Fulp, author of The Mercenary Geologist, gives his thoughts on why the experts are wrong and why copper should be considered a critical metal.

The Critical Metals Report: In the past, there has been some confusion about the term "critical metals." What do you consider to be critical metals and why?

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Gold Bullion vs. Gold Stocks – Which is the Better Investment? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Jason_Hamlin

You have probably read in multiple articles that mining stocks offer leverage to the movement of the underlying metal. But this hasn’t been the case over the past several years, which has created some confusion in the precious metals investment community. While the gold price has more than doubled (+110%) in the past five years, the AMEX Gold Bugs Index (HUI) is up only 15% and the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) is up only 7%.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Silver Price Set to Soar by 400% in 3 Years / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: GoldCore

Today’s AM fix was USD 1,724.75, EUR 1,360.86, and GBP 1,085.23 per ounce.  Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,735.75, EUR 1,365.44, and GBP 1,091.39 per ounce.

Silver is trading at $32.63/oz, €25.76/oz and £20.61/oz.  Platinum is trading at $1,591.00/oz, palladium at $614.50/oz and rhodium at $1,085/oz.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Gold vs Other Real Assets / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Adam_Wadman

Gold has long been seen as “real money.  It is seen as a stable store of value, and today, it is seen a “must have” alternative investment for any diversified portfolio.   Indeed, gold’s popularity is demonstrated by the fact that the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) has already gathered approximately US$75 billion of assets.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

The Age of Entitlement and Need to Own Gold / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Bob_Kirtley

“Cassius suggests that the people get the government they deserve”.

This can be a good thing, if (and it’s a big “if”) the people do their homework and vote based on facts, not on rumor or innuendo - Shakespeare in Julius Caesar

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Central Bank Insurance and Agricultural Gold Alchemy / Commodities / Farm Land

By: John_Mauldin

“Without that sense of security which property gives, the land would still be uncultivated.” – Francois Quesnay

“There were at least one million people marching in the streets,” said Alejandro.

“No,” said Juan, “it was not anywhere close to that number. I don’t think there were more than 600,000.”

When I had driven past the center of town earlier that afternoon, around five, there were only a few thousand. “Where’s the rest of the demonstration?” I asked.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Goodbye Biofuels! / Commodities / Bio-Fuels

By: Andrew_McKillop

To be sure, there are biofuels and biofuels. Some, called second-generation non-crop biofuels have "good long-term outlooks", but others are clearly uneconomic and a recipe for bankruptcy for any unwary producer and investor. The first major point is the volume output of "present generation" biofuels makes them a side issue for world energy, for the simple and basic reason they are uneconomic. We can start with the big numbers - for production of "present generation" bioethanol fuels able to subsitute gasoline - dominated by the US and Brazil, noting that world biodiesel production (from vegetable oils and animal fats) is far behind the total for bioethanol.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Gold Importers Digesting Higher Prices with Sentiment Driven by Fiscal Cliff / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Ben_Traynor

SPOT MARKET gold prices hovered just below $1738 an ounce Monday morning in London, close to three-week highs, while stocks and commodities were broadly flat and the Euro traded near two-month lows against the Dollar, as the US and Greece both contemplated upcoming fiscal difficulties.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Crude Oil Price Drop Offers Investors a Discount Opportunity / Commodities / Crude Oil

By: Money_Morning

Dr. Kent Moors writes: Markets declined significantly in the wake of last Tuesday's Presidential election. In the two days that followed the S&P shed almost 3.6%.

But now the energy sector in general - and oil in particular - is poised for a major move up.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Where Now for China's Gold Market? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Adrian_Ash

The latest from the London Bullion Market Association conference in Hong Kong...

THE ANNUAL conference of the London Bullion Market Association – the "premier professional forum for the world's bullion market" as Haywood Cheung of the 100-year old Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange put it this morning – is taking place right now in Hong Kong.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Silver Remains Stuck in a Trading Range / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Clive_Maund

We exited our short positions in silver for a modest but useful profit when it broke out of its downtrend towards the end of October. It then broke sharply lower on heavy turnover in a move that looks capitulative, but afterwards turned and rose quite sharply over the past week. So the question now is “has it bottomed?” Although the answer to this question is “Yes, it looks like it has”, it also looks like it may back and fill for a little while to complete a base pattern before a sustained advance can get underway. The latest silver COT continues to give grounds for caution and warns that the current turn may be the B-wave trap of a 3-wave A-B-C correction. We are aware of this danger and place stops accordingly to protect us from it.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Weekly Gold Chart Has A Lot To Reveal. Market Activity Rules! / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Submissions

Michael Noonan writes: Our sole basis for understanding what little we may know of the market comes directly
from the most reliable source, the market itself. The basis for any market derives from the forces of supply and demand. In futures, battles and results from those two opposing dynamics are to be found in price, volume, and time. Our contention is that the markets have their own degree of logic, and patience in reading charts can be very revealing, ultimately rewarding.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Most Gold Miners are Sacrificing Profits for Growth / Commodities / Gold & Silver Stocks

By: DailyWealth

Matt Badiali writes: Hardcore gold and gold-stock investors are a unique breed.

They are not like "normal" investors. Most hardcore gold investors see gold (and often silver) as the only real form of money. They expect it to soar when the world falls apart. They fall in love with gold... more so than an investor likes his shares of Google or Microsoft. So when gold and gold stocks fail to live up to bullish expectations, the level of disappointment is very high.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Gold Cycles Bulllish Gold Price Forecast 2013 / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013

By: GoldSilverWorlds

Financial Tap writes: Gold is off to a flying start in this new Daily Cycle and it’s exactly what we expected and hoped for. If this is the first Daily Cycle, then we should see a consistent and grinding move higher from this point forward. The first Cycle has a habit of relentlessly grinding higher, much to the chagrin of investors who continue to wait for a pullback to buy into this new rally. Investors who missed the ICL will often look at the final ICL price compared to the quick $50 rally of a new cycle and find it difficult to buy. As the Cycle gathers momentum, a sense of panic buying begins to unfold.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

War On Coal And Coal's Game Changer / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Andrew_McKillop

Murray Energy Corp. and all other US coal producers have been forced to shut mines and fire thousands of workers in 2012 as they cut their output by tens of millions of tons every quarter, in the face of weaker demand and ever-lower prices. Coal used in the US for power stations which are increasingly moving to burning natural gas has reduced US total coal demand by more than 20% in one year. If this trend continues, and Obama further tightens the screw on coal, India will replace the US as the world's second-biggest coal burner, by 2015 or sooner.

Friday, November 09, 2012

Global Copper Production Under Stress / Commodities / Copper

By: Richard_Mills

Capital inputs account for about half the total costs in mining production - the average for the economy as a whole is 21 per cent. Obviously many of the costs, once incurred, cannot be recovered by sale or transfer of the fixed assets.

Friday, November 09, 2012

The Silver Market Basket Case / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Dr_Jeff_Lewis

Silver bullion investors often feel as if they have become a basket case. As an investment class, they are increasingly growing weary of the suppressive manipulation that characterizes today’s silver market. To the outside observer, the situation in the silver market could seem even more confusing and grotesque.

Friday, November 09, 2012

Gold and Silver Futures: Broken Price Discovery / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Dr_Jeff_Lewis

Most futures traders have learned to accept or pay cash in exchange for rolling their futures contracts out when delivery approaches. Just about everybody now knows that physical delivery cannot actually happen in the silver market.

Friday, November 09, 2012

Gold Headed for Weekly Gain Despite Dollar Strength / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Ben_Traynor

SPOT PRICES in the wholesale gold bullion market traded above $1730 an ounce Friday morning in London, having earlier touched a two-week high, while stocks fell and the Dollar and US Treasury bonds gained, with analysts suggesting weak growth and monetary policy are likely to persist.

Friday, November 09, 2012

Gold and Silver Seasonal Year End Rally Underway / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: GoldCore

Today’s AM fix was USD 1,732.75, EUR 1,362.23, and GBP 1,085.55 per ounce.  Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,715.00, EUR 1,347.42, and GBP 1,075.84 per ounce.

Silver is trading at $32.19/oz, €25.42/oz and £20.27/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,560.50/oz, palladium at $613.00/oz and rhodium at $1,100/oz.