Analysis Topic: Commodity Markets - Metals, Softs & Oils
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.Monday, April 23, 2012
Gold Stocks Continue to Underperform Gold Bullion / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
I have written (and warned my readers) several times about the weak performance of the HUI index compared to the price of Gold.
Despite general stock markets approaching pre-crisis highs and Gold holding up quite well so far, the HUI index has dropped quite substantially. The combination of weak performance of HUI stocks and the relatively “strong” action of Gold, caused the HUI index to underperform Gold dramatically.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Gold's Continuing Vulnerability / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
The investment world is currently full of paradoxes. For example, whilst the Gold Bugs Index (the $HUI which is made up of more speculative counters in precious metals) has been deteriorating strongly – see chart 1, courtesy stockcharts.com – the ratio of the $HUI/$XAU shows that the $HUI has been rising since early 2011.
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Sunday, April 22, 2012
How to Make a Fortune Investing in Natural Gas / Commodities / Natural Gas
Porter Stansberry writes: I am extremely bullish on natural gas.
For those of you who have been watching the price chart of natural gas... that probably seems strange. As you can see in the chart below, the price of natural gas has been trending down for years...
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Gold and Silver COT (CFTC – Commitment of Traders) / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
Marshall Swing writes: Commercials added 2,372 longs and 2,484 shorts to end the week with 47.57% of all open interest 132,485,000 ounces net short, a small increase of 555,000 ounces.
Large speculators netted only -103 contract longs and covered -324 shorts for a net long position of 92,035,000 ounces, a increase of almost 1,105,000 ounces from the prior week.
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Saturday, April 21, 2012
Gold and Silver Miners Put Real Money Where Their Mouth Is / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
In precious metals, it has been a trying time for miner investors. Despite gains in bullion prices, gold and silver miners have lagged behind. Since January 2011, the SPDR Gold Trust has gained 15.5 percent, while the iShares Silver Trust has increased 2.5 percent. However, miner ETFs such as the Market Vectors Gold Miners and the Global X Silver Miners have both fallen 23 percent in the same period. While it may appear to be all doom and gloom in the mining stocks, the companies themselves are signaling better days ahead.
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Saturday, April 21, 2012
Many Signs Point to Gold Higher Prices / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday surprised investors with a bigger-than-expected half-percentage-point cut to its key lending rate, sending it to 8%, saying the state of India's economy is "a matter of growing concern." Assuming a normal monsoon season, continuing improvement in industrial production and in the global outlook, the RBI said it expects growth for the current year at 7.3%. Inflation in India slowed less than expected in March. Indians, who love gold in any case, could turn to it as an inflation hedge. Meanwhile, the Indian Post office system is offering a 6% rebate on gold coins of various denominations for the forthcoming Akshaya Tritiya festival, which is one of the biggest gold buying festivals in the country.
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Saturday, April 21, 2012
China Economy Dragging Commodities Lower / Commodities / Commodities Trading
Commodities have been sinking like stones since late February, an unusual divergence from the rallying stock markets. This relentless weakness has wreaked havoc on commodities sentiment, leading traders to abandon commodities stocks. As we all try to make sense of this surreal bloodbath, one catalyst keeps coming up. Western perceptions of the Chinese economy have been a real drag on commodities.
China is indeed one of the major drivers of this past decade’s secular commodities bulls. As the world’s most-populous country, it has over 1.3b people who collectively consume vast amounts of resources. China sports the fastest-growing major economy on the planet, which has recently catapulted it to become the world’s second largest after the US. China is also the second-largest importer on Earth.
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Saturday, April 21, 2012
Silver Price Seen Over $40/oz in 2012 – Store of Value Remains Undervalued / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,640.00, EUR 1,246.30, and GBP 1,018.25 per ounce.
Yesterday's AM fix was USD 1,642.00, EUR 1,249.91 and GBP 1,022.73 per ounce.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Inflation and Hidden Gold Taxation Historical Case Studies / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
The number one reason investors buy gold is to protect against the government policies that create inflation. However, the government has "rigged the game" in such a way that the higher the rate of inflation, the more of a gold investor's net worth ends up with the government instead of the investor.
An examination of three historical case studies of long-term gold investment during a time of substantial inflation shows how under existing law and tax rates, the US federal government used the 1-2 combination of inflation and taxes to not only take all gold investor profits, but to confiscate part of the investors' starting net worth as well. These three real world analyses explore gold acting as a perfect inflation hedge, gold experiencing asset inflation, and gold experiencing asset deflation.
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Friday, April 20, 2012
How to Profit from the Bakken Crude Oil Shale Boom / Commodities / Crude Oil
David Zeiler writes: Did you ever wish you'd been around for the California gold rush of 1849? Or the Texas oil boom of the early 1900s?
Maybe you can't go back in time, but you don't have to.
The Bakken oil shale boom going on in North Dakota right now is just as big-if not bigger.
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Friday, April 20, 2012
COMEX Reduces Silver Margins Yet Again / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
After raising margin requirements for silver futures contracts eight times last year, the CME Group has decided to lower margins yet again, after having last lowered them on February 13th.
Last year’s margin requirement hikes increased the cost of holding silver futures positions by 80 percent and was one of the key factors contributing to silver’s sharp decline last May.
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Friday, April 20, 2012
A Return to the Gold Standard, or Gold Behind Currencies / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
This is the fourth part of a five part series on how gold will return to the monetary system globally but not in the form of the defunct Gold Standard.
"Dirty Float"
Today we have a set of circumstances that are totally different to those times. All currencies are in a "dirty float" that sees exchange rates moving relatively freely, being the subject of market forces, including manipulation by their own governments. The days of revaluation and devaluation are things of the past. So no amount of systemic change will see the re-imposition of fixed exchange rates. Any new monetary system or adjustment to the present system will have to accept this reality.
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Friday, April 20, 2012
Gold Miners, Buying Gold at Discount / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
China has been trying to diversify her foreign exchange reserves for some time. We are all familiar with the figures released by the likes of the World Gold Council about Chinese gold investment demand, as well as statistics showing official gold imports through Hong Kong into the Chinese mainland. Chinese reserves contain only 2% gold, compared to nearly 10% for India and Russia, and figures in the 70th percentile for developed nations such as the USA and Germany.
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Thursday, April 19, 2012
Gold Still a Long Term Hedge and Less Volatile than Equities / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,642.00, EUR 1,249.91, and GBP 1,022.73 per ounce. Friday's AM fix was USD 1,646.50, EUR 1,258.41and GBP 1,030.80 per ounce.
Silver is trading at $31.57/oz, €24.06/oz and £19.69/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,582.50/oz, palladium at $657.20/oz and rhodium at $1,350/oz.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Generational Low for Natural Gas / Commodities / Natural Gas
Natural gas is in the midst of the establishment of a generational low, when everything appears extremely bleak fundamentally. This is a classic commodity capitulation period. From my perspective, the extended falling wedge type pattern once again is in a position to do serious damage to the well-entrenched shorts -- that is, if the price structure finds a way to hurdle 2.015-2.030 . . . 6.60 in the ProShares Ultra DJ-UBS Natural Gas (BOIL).
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Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Gold/Platinum Ratio Suggests Much Higher Gold Prices Are Coming Soon / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
There is an interesting pattern developing on the Gold/Platinum Ratio. This pattern is similar to a previous pattern on the silver chart. Below, is a graphic which features the Gold/Platinum Ratio chart (top) as well as the silver chart (bottom) (charts courtesy of stockcharts.com):Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Gold Silver and Bear Raid Breaks Momentum / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
The paper money munchkins and metal bears are making their stand for gold at $1650 and silver at 32. That seems fairly obvious. They will hold it until they cannot, and then will fall back to defend a slightly higher price level. I like to think of it in American football terms. The bulls are going for a first down, and the bears are trying to hold them back.
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Wednesday, April 18, 2012
"Waning Enthusiasm" for Gold and Silver as Prices Drift Lower / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
SPOT MARKET gold bullion prices drifted lower in Wednesday morning's London trading, hitting $1640 an ounce ahead of US trading – a 1.1% fall on the week so far – while stock markets also fell and commodities were broadly flat.
Silver bullion fell as low as $31.52 per ounce – broadly in line with where it started the week.
UK government bond prices dipped – while German bunds gained as Eurozone concerns continued to focus on Spain.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Central Banks Favour Gold as IMF Warns of “Collapse of Euro” and “Full Blown Financial Markets Panic” / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,646.50, EUR 1,258.41, and GBP 1,030.80 per ounce. Friday's AM fix was USD 1,652.00, EUR 1,255.51 and GBP 1,035.54 per ounce.
Silver is trading at $31.61/oz, €24.16/oz and £19.78/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,577.25/oz, palladium at $656.90/oz and rhodium at $1,350/oz.
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Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Gold and Silver Price Manipulation and How They Do It / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012
Marshall Swing writes: This article is about what I call classic gold and silver manipulation by the commercial banks.
I list steps in the commercial process that ends in commercial positions profiting and speculator positions with losses or no gains:
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