MF Customer Fleckenstein on Funds' Return, Corzine

MF Customer Fleckenstein on Funds' Return, Corzine - Video - Bloomberg



March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Bill Fleckenstein, president of Fleckenstein Capital Inc. and a futures customer of MF Global Holding Ltd.'s brokerage unit, talks about the prospects of getting back the money he is owed and the legal liability of former MF Global Chief Executive Officer Jon Corzine over a transfer of funds from a customer account. Fleckenstein speaks with on Bloomberg Television's "InBusiness With Margaret Brennan." (Source: Bloomberg)

New Faces May Bring New Info at MF Global Hearing

New Faces May Bring New Info at MF Global Hearing - Video - Bloomberg



March 28 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Sheila Dharmarajan reports on the new faces in the spotlight in today's hearing on Capitol Hill in search of missing client funds at MF Global. She speaks on Bloomberg Television's "Inside Track." (Source: Bloomberg)

MF Global's O'Brien Pleads 5th, Dismissed

MF Global's O'Brien Pleads 5th, Dismissed - Video - Bloomberg



March 28 (Bloomberg) -- Edith O’Brien, the MF Global Holdings Ltd. assistant treasurer identified by Jon S. Corzine as someone with knowledge of the firm’s transfers of customer funds, declined to answer questions from House lawmakers. (Source: Bloomberg)

MF Global Hearings, Outlook for Jon Corzine

MF Global Hearings, Outlook for Jon Corzine - Video - Bloomberg



March 28 (Bloomberg) -- Seth Berenzweig, managing partner at Berenzweig Leonard, and Richard Roth, founder and partner at The Roth Law Firm PLLC, talk about hearings before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on MF Global Holdings Ltd.'s bankruptcy and use of customer funds. They speak with Trish Regan and Adam Johnson on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)

MF Global Treasurer Makes the Smart Move and Takes the Fifth, but I'd Wipe That Smile Off my Face

MF Global Treasurer Declines to Answer Questions From Panel - Bloomberg

Edith O’Brien, the MF Global Holdings Ltd. (MF) assistant treasurer who has become a key figure in the disappearance of as much as $1.6 billion in customer funds, declined to answer questions from U.S. lawmakers.  O’Brien, who appeared today under subpoena before a House Financial Services subcommittee, invoked her constitutional right against self-incrimination during a hearing on the New York firm’s Oct. 31 bankruptcy, the eighth largest in U.S. history.

Palladium Seen Beating Gold With Record Car Sales

Palladium Seen Beating Gold With Record Car Sales: Commodities - Bloomberg

Investors are buying palladium at the fastest pace in more than a year as analysts predict rising demand and declining supply will turn this quarter’s worst- performing precious metal into the best by December.
Holdings in palladium-backed exchange-traded products rose 13 percent this year, poised for the best quarter since the end of 2010, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The metal will average $850 an ounce in the final three months of 2012, 30 percent more than now, according to the median estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. They expect a gain of 13 percent for gold, 11 percent for silver and 9.8 percent for platinum.

USDA Says It May Relax Sugar Quotas

USDA Says It May Relax Sugar Quotas - WSJ.com

The U.S. Department of Agriculture indicated it will allow a small increase in U.S. sugar imports this year, a decision that is likely to do little to quell complaints from confectioners and processors about tight supplies.  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Tuesday that the department would make "some adjustment" to the sugar quota, which has been in place for decades. Mr. Vilsack said it could be raised by about 24%, or as much 300,000 short tons, from the 1.23 million short-ton level, an increase he described as not significant.

Big increase in US sugar quota sought by foodmakers

Foodmakers ask big increase in US sugar quota | Reuters

WASHINGTON, March 28 (Reuters) - Foodmakers asked the U.S. government on Wednesday for a hefty increase in the sugar import quota, saying supplies are running short because of strong domestic demand and smaller-than-expected shipments from Mexico.
The Sweetener Users Association, representing food and beverage companies, asked for immediate action on an increase that would fill sugar needs through the Sept 30, the end of this marketing year. April 1 is the first day the Agriculture Department is allowed by law to boost the import quota.

Indian demand for gold may drop 53% in 2012

Gold falling as Indian demand may drop 53% in 2012

The midweek trading session in New York opened with lower prices across the precious metals boards, particularly gold, as crude oil slipped by a notable amount and as options expiry and month-end related trading book activities became visible. The US dollar remained above the 79 mark on the trade-weighted index refusing to give up too much value ground following relatively dovish comments on Tuesday by Fed Chairman Bernank

Gold: For richer, for poorer as crisis cools

Analysis: Gold: For richer, for poorer as crisis cools | Reuters


After a storming start to 2012, bullion prices have lost some of their lustre in recent weeks in line with a reassessment of global economic health.  Jumbo-sized liquidity taps are off in Europe, while the jury is out on a further round of U.S. quantitative easing.  U.S. data shows a slightly improved trajectory, with employment numbers and consumer credit growth highlighted in a key year for President Barack Obama. Treasury yields reflected that, breaking out of the doldrums and raising potential for tighter policy down the road.

Banks hold $1 billion in MF Global UK cash, KPMG says

Banks hold $1 billion in MF Global UK cash, KPMG says

March 28 (Bloomberg) -- About $1 billion of MF Global Holding Ltd. U.K. clients’ money remains locked away in other financial institutions five months after the brokerage’s collapse, administrators KPMG LLP said.  KPMG has collected more than $500 million from those accounts to date, the firm said in an update published on its website. The figures relate to unsegregated client accounts, which MF Global was allowed to mix with its own funds and which have proved difficult for the administrators to recover.

CFTC advises on speculative limits, hedging exemptions

CFTC advises on speculative limits, hedging exemptions

Washington, DC – The Division of Market Oversight (the Division) of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an Advisory highlighting the Commission’s special call authorities relating to claimed exemptions from speculative position limits under 17 CFR parts 150 and 151. The Division issued the Advisory at this time because: (1) there will be new traders and new commodities subject to position limits (and the related exemption reporting requirements) under the Commission’s new speculative position limit rules in Part 151; and (2) the Division believes that it is important to highlight and clarify, as a general matter, the process and recordkeeping requirements associated with claiming a hedge exemption from the Commission’s position limit rules.

Oil stocks build as traders look for next price driver

Oil stocks build as traders look for next price driver

Oil held small gains ahead of the weekly fundamental snapshots that began late Tuesday with the release of the API data. The trading session was relatively quiet on low volume activity with minimal macroeconomic data hitting the media airwaves. The market is currently looking for a strong catalyst for guidance for the next move. With geopolitics easing a tad the more normal price drivers have been moving back to the forefront. Today was a neutral to bearish side from the economic area.

Goldman cuts commodities to neutral from overweight

UPDATE 1-Goldman cuts commodities to neutral from overweight | Reuters

(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs on Wednesday said it was shifting its recommendation on commodities to "neutral" from "overweight" on a near-term horizon, as most commodity markets including copper, crude oil and soybeans have reached the brokerage's near-term targets.  Goldman, however, said it remains overweight on a 12-month horizon, with an expected return of 10 percent.  "We believe that the macro environment is likely to soften in second quarter with few near-term upside catalysts other than increased tensions in the Middle East," Goldman said in a note to clients.   Goldman said it was maintaining its long recommendations on New York Mercantile Exchange crude oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and gold.

Natural gas makes decade low, still bearish

Natural gas makes decade low, still bearish

Natural gas hit a decade low and shows us once again the cyclical nature of commodities. Back in 2002, the last time natural gas was this low, the market was still trying to come to grips with the post 9-11 slowdown. Yet behind the scenes there was increasing worries about natural gas, which for years we had taken stable natural gas prices for granted. There was a movement toward cleaner burning natural gas and a surge in electricity demand as it seemed everyone in the country was leaving those computers plugged in. Natural gas was the best alternative for electricity generation as coal was too dirty and nuclear was a dirty word.

MF Global treasurer goes from obscurity to Congressional glare

MF Global treasurer goes from obscurity to Congressional glare

March 28 (Bloomberg) -- Edith O’Brien, the Chicago-based treasurer of MF Global Holdings Ltd.’s broker-dealer, was pulled from back-office obscurity onto center stage last year in testimony to Congress by former chief executive Jon S. Corzine.  Today, having become a key figure in the brokerage’s messy denouement, she faces lawmakers directly for the first time.