Disruption To Straits Of Hormuz Not To Be Tolerated

US Navy States Any Disruption To Straits Of Hormuz “Will Not Be Tolerated”

The U.S. Fifth Fleet mentioned on Wednesday it will
not allow any disruption of targeted traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran
threatened to end ships moving by way of the strategic oil route.

Goldman says the best is over for the BRICs

BRIC Decade Ends With Record Stock Outflows as Goldman Says Growth Peaked- Bloomberg

In the past decade, mutual funds poured almost $70 billion into Brazil, Russia, India and China, stocks more than quadrupled gains in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and the economies grew four times faster than America’s. Now Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), which coined the term BRIC, says the best is over for the largest emerging markets.

The false promise of big hedge fund $

Exposing the false promise of big money wins - FT.com

If all the money that has ever been invested in hedge funds had instead been put into US Treasury bills, the results would have been twice as good, according to Simon Lack.

Livestock rare standout in 2011 ~ Outlook for 2012 remains solid

Milk, livestock rare standouts amid broader 2011 commodity slump - Cattle News - Editorial, Grain & Cattle Markets, Current Stories

U.S. beef and pork exports were also on a record pace, contributing to rallies in CME cattle and hog markets. Live cattle futures were up 14 percent for the year through Dec. 28 after surging 25 percent in 2010. Lean hog futures were up 7.3 percent after jumping 22 percent last year. A year from now, cattle prices are expected to be another 5 percent higher, based on CME futures.

New EU growth fund proposed by Germany

Germany wants new EU growth fund: Source - The Economic Times

BERLIN: Germany wants the billions of euros that have not been tapped from European Union structural aid funds to be channeled into a separate fund for stimulating growth in ailing member states, a government source told Reuters.

Oil Options Volatility Climbs

Oil Options Volatility Rises as Futures Fall on European Debt - Businessweek

Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Oil options volatility rose as the underlying futures fell for the first time in seven days after the European Central Bank said its balance sheet soared to a record high.

Comex Gold Down Sharply

Comex Gold Dips Sharply On Global Economic News, Strong Dollar - Forbes

(Kitco News) – Comex February gold futures lost nearly 2% of their intrinsic value Wednesday, responding to bearish news from Europe, China and India, which produced fears of weakening demand for the precious metal and a very strong U.S. dollar.

The year of the dollar

Look for 2012 to be the year of the dollar - David Callaway - MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — At a meeting in London last month I listened with mild amusement as a senior sales executive discussed the rollout of a banking campaign to promote the rise of China’s renminbi as a global currency.

Holy Cow! Milk Leads Commodities Prices!

Holy Cow! Milk is Leading the Commodity Pack - US Business News - CNBC

Michael Gurka managing director of Spectrum Asset Management recommends stocking up. He's bullish on milk futures for two reasons: they've made the most gains in actively traded commodities this year, and the grain feeding the dairy cows is looking pretty cheap. “Nobody ever really talks about milk, but that was the biggest priced commodity of the year,” noted Gurka during an appearance on CNBC Wednesday.

All of the gold mined in the world to date would fit in a 20m cube, they estimate that there is probably another 10m cube left out there somewhere.

How Much Gold Is There In The World ? | CoinWeek

After a small bit of research on the World Gold Council website, I saw an estimate which pegged the total amount of mined gold from ancient times to the present, calculated at 158,000 tonnes.

This game is chess, it ain't checkers!

If The European Politicians Lose The Currency Chess Game

Nobody knows what is going to happen in the next year, let alone in the next three years. What follows is the theory behind the European Politicians losing the currency chess game.