Analysis Topic: Commodity Markets - Metals, Softs & Oils

The analysis published under this topic are as follows.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Do Hedge Funds Still Have Faith in GOLD? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Eric_McWhinnie

The price of gold has been relatively subdued so far this year. After finishing 2011 at $1,531 an ounce, the precious metal trades modestly higher near $1,600. Over the past three months, gold has been in a tight trading range between $1,540 and $1,640. However, several well-known hedge funds recently made large moves regarding the safe-haven asset.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Soros Gold Action Speaks Louder Than Trumpeted 'Bubble' Words / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: GoldCore

Today's AM fix was USD 1,594.75, EUR 1,293.60, and GBP 1,016.74 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,614.50, EUR 1,305.60 and GBP 1,028.34 per ounce.

Silver is trading at $27.70/oz, €22.65/oz and £17.74/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,401.25/oz, palladium at $571.75/oz and rhodium at $1,060/oz.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Good Economic News is Bad for Gold / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Ben_Traynor

THE WHOLESALE MARKET gold price fell back below $1600 an ounce during Tuesday morning's London trading, hitting its lowest level for nearly two-weeks, while European stock markets also traded lower, as analysts speculated on the prospects for a third round of quantitative easing (QE3) from the Federal Reserve following the release of positive US economic data.

"The market is disappointed that [gold] was not able to revisit the July high of $1633," says the latest technical analysis note from bullion bank Scotia Mocatta.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Quiet Gold Market Waiting for German Big Bang / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Ben_Traynor

SPOT MARKET gold prices traded above $1610 an ounce Tuesday morning in London, slightly below where they started the week, while European markets edged higher following news of better-than-expected German economic growth.

Silver prices briefly rallied back above $28 per ounce before retreating, while other commodities were similarly flat on the day.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Secret Factors for Beating the Gold Stock Indexes / Commodities / Gold & Silver Stocks

By: The_Gold_Report

John Doody doesn't run off chasing down Indiana Jones' lost gold mines in Peru. He focuses on producers or near-producers whose reserves have been verified as economic to produce. A former professor and the author of the Gold Stock Analyst, Doody has been lying in wait for the market to reach bottom, at which point he's ready to deploy the one-third of his portfolio he's been holding in cash into his top 10 stocks. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, Doody shares the metrics he uses to nail down those companies.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Gold and the Middle East Crisis / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Clif_Droke

The year 2012 has been relatively peaceful compared with the past 10 years. The lack of military aggression on the part of the U.S. has led many to believe that the America's days of military adventures are over. But as we'll see here, 2012 is simply a temporary respite in a longer-term "theater" of war that has only just passed the opening act.

The past decade has indeed been one of near constant strife and turmoil. Starting with 9/11 and the U.S.-led NATO invasion of Afghanistan, and later Iraq, the 10 years between 2001 and 2011 were characterized by ceaseless warfare. The military invasions in the Middle East have been followed by civil and military uprisings in Egypt, North Africa and elsewhere in the region. By contrast, 2012 might be styled a "quiet" year for the Mideast. A withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq began in mid 2009 and formally ended in late 2011.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Why Stock Selection in Gold Mining is Paramount / Commodities / Gold & Silver Stocks

By: Jordan_Roy_Byrne

As we alluded to last week, there is an overflowing amount of evidence that both the metals and the shares have bottomed. Price action, sentiment indicators and fundamentals more than confirm a market bottom. Does this mean the market is ready to zoom much higher? Not necessarily. The sector must contend with some overhead supply as well as repair technical damage that caused a loss of both short and long-term momentum.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Gold Mining Stocks Continue to Disappoint But Not For Long / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Chris_Vermeulen

It is an endless debate for investors interested in gold. Should they buy a direct play on the gold price, either gold bullion itself or even so-called paper gold with an ETF such as the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD)? Or should they invest into gold equities, particularly the larger, higher quality gold mining companies?

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Which Way Will the Pendulum Swing for Gold? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Frank_Holmes

One of the most fascinating aspects when watching a sporting event like the Olympics is the historical statistics highlighting the tremendous advances in athleticism over the years. In the spirit of the events this summer, BTN Research compared gold's advancement from the beginning of the games in Beijing to the London Olympics.

On the day of China's auspicious opening ceremonies on August 8, 2008, gold was $857.80 an ounce. By the time the world watched the opening ceremonies of the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, the precious metal had climbed to $1,617.90 an ounce. This represents a remarkable increase of 89 percent in four years.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Olympic Calm Before Coming Financial Storm / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: GoldCore

Today's AM fix was USD 1,622.25, EUR 1,317.30, and GBP 1,035.33 per ounce.
Friday’s AM fix was USD 1,608.50, EUR 1,310.92 and GBP 1,030.69 per ounce.

Silver is trading at $28.04/oz, €22.81/oz and £17.94/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,405.30/oz, palladium at $580.10/oz and rhodium at $1,060/oz.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Gold "Better Sentiment" Seen as Gold-Platinum Premium Sets New High / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Ben_Traynor

U.S. DOLLAR gold bullion prices rose to $1625 an ounce during Monday morning's London trading, towards the higher end of gold's range over the last three months.

Silver bullion climbed to $28.18 an ounce – in line with last week's close, after briefly dipping below $28.

Stock markets were broadly flat following news that Japan's economic growth slowed sharply in the second quarter.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

World Fresh Water Maps / Commodities / Water Sector

By: Richard_Shaw

Fresh water is a fixed quantity.  Population and water usage per capita are rising quantities.  When the demand exceeds supply, various forces come into play:  allocation by price and affordability, efficiency changes, investment in desalination, legal disputes and at some point wars.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Crude Oil Price Spike on QE3 Expectations Should be a Warning to the Fed / Commodities / Crude Oil

By: EconMatters

Crude Oil prices for WTI were just $78 dollars in July, a month later they are $93.40 with supplies well above their five year average range, China decelerating at a rate not seen since the financial crisis, and US gasoline demand down 4.2 percent year-on-year and distillates down 2.8 percent.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Water, an Endangered Global Resource / Commodities / Water Sector

By: Richard_Mills

Our groundwater is being used up at record rates and claims to ownership are becoming increasingly contentious. It won't be long before the first water war begins.

There's a lot of water on the planet we inhabit - an estimated 326 million trillion gallons or 1,260,000,000,000,000,000,000 liters.

That makes it hard to believe that there are somewhere between 780 million to one billion people without basic and reliable water supplies and that more than two billion people lack the requirements for basic sanitation.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Gold's 'Fearless' Summer Turnaround / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Clif_Droke

When does a precious metal known for feeding off investors' fears need the opposite of fear to move higher? Answer: Right now!

Austin Kiddle, an analyst with bullion broker Sharps Pixley, asked the following question in a recent commentary: "Can fear refuel the investment demand for gold?" It's a question many investors are now asking and well worth addressing.

Friday, August 10, 2012

GOLD: Lover or Fighter? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Eric_McWhinnie

If there is one lesson that investors have learned in recent years, it is don’t fight central banks. The rally seen in equities since the lows of 2009 is now considered one of the most hated rallies in history. Analysts and pundits can debate macroeconomic conditions until blue in the face, but when central banks inject trillions of dollars into the financial system, the general trend tends to be higher. Precious metals have also benefited from monetary easing programs, but they are now finding out how hard it is to fight central banks.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Gold Technicals Portend Impending Breakout / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: Pete_Grant

Similar chart patterns in seven major currencies signal potential for resumption of secular bull market

Ah, the long, lazy, hazy days of summer: Here in Colorado, it's been a particularly hot and dry one, leading to one of the worst wildfire seasons in recent memory. As for 'lazy', that's a pretty apt description of the gold market, which has been confined to a range of just $66.36 since the summer solstice.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Is the Silver’s Move Above Its 50-day Moving Average a Bona Fide Buy Signal? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: P_Radomski_CFA

Many metaphors have been used for gold but never to our knowledge has the price of gold been compared to the non-barking dog. (This refers to the Sherlock Holmes story, Silver Blaze and the "curious incident of the dog in the night-time." Holmes infers that the dog made no noise because the villain was someone the dog knew very well.)

Friday, August 10, 2012

Three Charts Every Gold Stock Trader Should See / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: DailyWealth

Jeff Clark writes: Everything is falling in place for a big gold stock rally...

So far this year, it's been tough to make money owning gold stocks. Every rally has been weak. Every subsequent decline has been steep. The big gold stock fund, GDX, for example is down 25% over the last 12 months.

This decline has made gold stocks very cheap... and ready to rally. Let me show you what I mean...

Friday, August 10, 2012

Cash Out Of Gold And Send Kids To College? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012

By: GoldCore

Today's AM fix was USD 1,608.50, EUR 1,310.92, and GBP 1,030.69 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,612.75, EUR 1,307.46 and GBP 1,029.79 per ounce.

Silver is trading at $27.91/oz, €22.84/oz and £17.96/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,405.50/oz, palladium at $576.00/oz and rhodium at $1,060/oz.