For Holiday Cheer Trade Currencies

CNBC Currency Blog — Holland: How to Trade Holiday Cheer Using Currencies — CNBC.com Global Currencies News - CNBC

Commodity currencies continue to be a good bet in that scenario, and Busch would buy the Canadian dollar against the yen. [CADJPY=X 76.43 -0.04 (-0.05%) ] The pair has rallied 2.5% over the last few days, he says, suggesting "good positive correlation with an equity rally."

Thru 12-20-2011 Commitments of Traders Charts Based on CFTC Data

Current Commitments of Traders Charts

Commodity Options 2011 Lessons

Commodity Options: What 2011 Taught Us - TheStreet

The volatile price moves played both sides (up and down) as the heightened emotions led to extreme reactions to most news or information.

Paulson funds down 52% for the year says source

Paulson funds down again in December: source | Reuters

The Paulson & Co.'s Advantage Plus fund, which has been the firm's worst performer all year, is down another 9 percent through December 16, sending yearly losses to about 52 percent, according to a person familiar with the numbers.

Natural Gas Futures Extend Long Slide

US GAS: Futures Extend Long Slide, Making 'Lump Of Coal' Look Better - WSJ.com

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Natural gas prices dropped nearly 2% Friday, continuing a months-long slide brought on by abundant supply and tepid weather-suppressed demand, and exacerbated by low holiday trading volume. Natural gas futures have been beaten down to 27-month lows recently. Many analysts see the market remaining depressed for the foreseeable future, with prices possibly falling even further, below the $3 a MMBtu mark.

Canadian Dollar Strengthens

Canadian Dollar Strongest in a Week on U.S. Economic Recovery - Businessweek

Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Canada’s currency touched its strongest level in more than a week versus the dollar after reports showed the economic recovery gaining momentum in the U.S., the nation’s largest trading partner.

Oil fund loses focus, sinks deep

Exclusive: Oil fund BlueGold loses focus, sinks deep into red | Reuters

(Reuters) - Respected commodities hedge fund BlueGold has veered from its energy-focused strategy, betting almost half its money on equities and other trades that are worrying investors as it turns in its first down year. The London-based fund, founded by former Vitol VITOLV.ULoil traders Dennis Crema and Pierre Andurand, is heading for a negative annual return, losing 34 percent through mid-December. Its asset base is down to $1.2 billion from $2 billion about a year ago.

Older Coal Plants Doomed

Upgrade Costs Doom Older Plants - WSJ.com

Most of the coal-fired plant capacity facing retirement consists of smaller, older power-generating units that can't bear a major expense, especially with today's low power prices. At Duke Energy Corp.'s Beckjord plant on the Ohio River, for example, none of the six coal units have scrubbers. Beckjord's six generating units were built between 1948 and 1969, when few pollution controls were required.

How BP Tried to Corner and Squeeze the Propane Market

Speculators and traders have tried to corner the commodities markets since futures trading began thousands of years ago. In my blogs I am posting from time to time a selection of notable or high-profile trading plays.

Propane pain

BP was in 2004 alleged to have bought nearly all the propane in the Mont Belvieu storage fields in advance, then held onto it until the end of the month, when other companies who needed the gas on a northern pipeline would pay up for it.
In 2007, BP agreed to pay $303m in civil and criminal penalties for attempting to corner the US propane market, the biggest CFTC fine in history. In return, the government agreed to end criminal probes related to propane, gasoline, crude and other commodity trade. BP also agreed to pay $52m to settle a class action lawsuit brought by customers who said they paid inflated prices in April 2003 and the first half of 2004.