Commodities fell, capping the biggest weekly decline since mid-January, as easing tensions in the Middle East sent oil lower and a stronger dollar eroded the appeal of raw materials. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 commodity futures dropped 1.2 percent to settle at 704.37 at 4 p.m. in New York, led by declines in silver, energy products and cotton. The gauge fell 1.6 percent for the week, the biggest slump since the five days ended Jan. 13.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Biggest Weekly Drop For Commodities Since January
Commodities fell, capping the biggest weekly decline since mid-January, as easing tensions in the Middle East sent oil lower and a stronger dollar eroded the appeal of raw materials. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 commodity futures dropped 1.2 percent to settle at 704.37 at 4 p.m. in New York, led by declines in silver, energy products and cotton. The gauge fell 1.6 percent for the week, the biggest slump since the five days ended Jan. 13.
Banks Miss Bond Gains
March 2 (Bloomberg) -- Europe's banks, cutting their holdings of euro-area government bonds, are missing the region's biggest returns.
Psychos on Wall Strreet!
The easiest way to explain the never-ending string of Wall Street scandals and implosions is to observe that a surprising percentage of people in the financial industry are psychos, according to Al Lewis on The News Hub.
Is the euro at a turning point?
The resilience of the euro against the dollar throughout the euro-zone sovereign-debt crisis has been a puzzle. Policy makers have been happy to accept this as a vote of confidence in the single currency. But with the euro now just under $1.32, well above its 10-year average of $1.285, it has become a drag on recovery hopes. Fortunately, the door may be opening to a weaker euro.
Copper's Stealth Problems
There is no shortage of buyers for copper right now. But it takes more than that to sustain a rally. Copper futures bounced into 2012, racking up a 16% gain over the first six weeks to trade near $4 a pound amid expectations that China, the world's largest consumer of the industrial metal, would continue its December copper buying binge into the New Year. But while Chinese import figures show copper is entering the country, the metal isn't necessarily being put to use. Copper inventories at the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the country's main metals trading hub, have hit a record 221,487 metric tons. Analysts at Standard Bank estimate that copper stored in bonded warehouses, which don't report their inventory levels, has also risen to about 400,000 metric tons from less than 200,000 last October.
ECB Approves Record Loans; Dollar Gains
The euro fell against most of its major counterparts after a liquidity injection by the European Central Bank failed to convince investors that the region’s crisis is abating. The 17-nation currency weakened this week as 800 financial institutions borrowed a record amount of three-year loans from the ECB, which is expected to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged March 8. The dollar rose to a nine-month high versus the yen after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke cast doubt on a third round of asset purchases. Canada’s dollar and Mexico’s peso rallied as oil surged to a 10-month high.
Bernanke Proves Critics Wrong
The numbers are proving Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s critics wrong. More than a year after Republicans from House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio to presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas warned that the Fed’s second round of asset purchases risked a sharp acceleration in prices, the surge has failed to materialize. The personal-consumption-expenditures price index rose 2.4 percent for the 12 months ending in December, near the central bank’s 2 percent target.
Survey Participants See Gold Prices Rising
Bullish traders continue to dominate the Kitco News Gold Survey, as a majority of survey participants expect prices to rise next week. In the Kitco News Gold Survey, out of 32 participants, 22 responded this week. Of those 22 participants, 14 see prices up, while six see prices down, and two are neutral. Market participants include bullion dealers, investment banks, futures traders, money managers and technical-chart analysts.
Oil trader buys refinery
Oil trader Gunvor said it had bought a Belgian refinery from Petroplus, the Swiss refiner that filed for insolvency in January, in the latest example of commodities trading houses diversifying away from pure trading operations. Geneva-based Gunvor said it expected its purchase of the Antwerp refinery, which closed down in early February, to be completed within six to eight weeks and that it intended to restart the plant as soon as possible.
Oil volatility from Saudi output
Oil prices jumped to their highest level since mid-2008 this week after disputed reports that a pipeline in Saudi Arabia had been damaged, raising fears about supply. Saudi Arabian officials strongly denied any explosion had taken place at a pipeline and alleged that a report posted on websites including Press TV, an English-language news channel based in Tehran, were part of a deliberate attempt to move the oil markets.
Is it crazy to buy Loonies?
The U.S. dollar has been rallying strongly for several months. That’s what we call a “gift horse.” And just as the saying goes, “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”
February 28, 2012 Current Commitments of Traders Charts
Based on CFTC weekly report.
(Weekly as of October 2000.)
01 Mar 11 - 28 Feb 12
Based on CFTC weekly report. (Weekly as of October 2000.) 01 Mar 11 - 28 Feb 12 | ||||||||||
Reports of pipeline attack are becoming increasingly unlikely
Oil spikes after reported pipeline attack, report denied
Reports of a pipeline attack in Saudi Arabia accompanied with pictures seemed to suggest that the hopes for any chance for low energy prices are increasingly unlikely. The Saudis denied the report yet it once again put risk in focus. Oil prices spiked to above $110 against a backdrop of already increasing risk to supply as reports that the United States may join Israel in an attack on Iran and reports that Israel may test a missile is playing into the simmering tensions in the region.
Lumpier Outlook for James River Coal
James River Set for Lower Ebitda
James River Coal (JRCC: Nasdaq) By MKM Partners ($7.35, March 1, 2012). James River Coal's fourth-quarter adjusted-earnings per share came in slightly below estimates.
Is this the beginning of the end for China's sale of U.S debt?
Will China's Sale of Treasuries Force the Fed to Buy?
The dollar's share of China's huge cache of currency reserves has been slashed to a record low, the Wall Street Journal reports, to which it adds the world hasn't ended as a result.
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