Everyone knows that gold is one of the most prolific commodities of all time, as its store of value has been coveted by people across the world for centuries. But another commodity is equally as popular among the wealthy though its presence is relatively unknown.
Diamonds are an extremely lucrative hard asset that may soon become the next big commodity given a recent filing. GemShares, a Chicago-based firm is expected to secure a patent to create an index for diamond pricing which can then be applied to futures contracts and ETFs and so on……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Australia’s export commodity prices rose slightly in July after hitting a 16-month low in May and rising only a fraction in June. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) index of commodity prices in July was 1.3 per cent higher in foreign currency terms than in June, extending the rise of 0.3 per cent in the June figure over May.
The price index is measured in terms of special drawing rights (SDRs), an average of four major currencies - the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen, and British pound………………………………………..Full Article: Source

New Zealand commodity prices fell for the sixth straight month in July, as uncertainty over the global economy and Europe’s worsening debt crisis sapped demand for raw materials.
The ANZ Commodity Price Index fell 0.5 per cent last month. Wool dropped 7 per cent, bringing its decline over the past 12 months to 43 per cent, prices for skins dropped 4 per cent and beef and lamb fell 2 per cent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Investment in commodity indexes rose in June, snapping a three-month decline, as renewed hopes for a solution to the euro zone crisis boosted most risk assets, figures from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed on Monday.
In its first monthly data showing an uptick in commodity market positions since February, the CFTC said the value of net long index investments rose by $6.8 billion, or nearly 4 percent, to $190.8 billion in June………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry commodities, fell on Thursday for the eighth straight day as the market continued to struggle with slower cargo trade and mounting fleet growth.
The overall index, a gauge of the cost of shipping commodities such as iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser, fell 21 points or 1.96 percent to 1,053 points………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Millions of investors have adopted a simple philosophy: if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. That’s the basic principle behind passive index investing, in which you try merely to match the overall performance of an index rather than seeking to outperform it.
Given how many active stock mutual funds fail to match the performance of their respective stock market benchmarks, that philosophy has worked well for stock investors………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Nasdaq OMX Group (NDAQ) is terminating nearly a dozen indexes tied to carbon, the latest shift in a market that’s proving tough to build in the U.S. Carbon trading has caught on in Europe, but markets in the U.S. and Asia can charitably be described as nascent.
Back in April, competitor NYSE Euronext (NYX) said it was scaling back its joint carbon trading venture, NYSE Blue. “We felt there really was no obvious traction” for expanding into the US and Asia, NYSE Euronext chief executive Duncan Niederauer was quoted by Dow Jones Newswires at the time as saying………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Australia and New Zealand Banking Group has launched an index for clients to track Chinese commodities demand, which it said was a better gauge of global commodity markets than other indices that were too focused on Western markets.
The ANZ index tracks Chinese domestic prices of 22 commodities, including iron ore, coal and rice, which are not included in other international commodities indices, and is weighted on consumption rather than production………………………………Full Article: Source

China’s stocks fell for a third day on concern the nation’s economic slowdown is deepening, overshadowing the central bank’s second interest-rate cut in a month. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 5.9 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,195.40 at 10:33 a.m. local time, erasing a gain of as much as 0.4 percent. The CSI 300 Index lost 0.1 percent to 2,429.21, led by energy and material companies.
China Vanke Co. surged 2.7 percent and property developers rallied on the prospect lower borrowing costs will stimulate housing demand. China Construction Bank Corp. fell 1 percent on concern bank net interest margins will narrow, hurting earnings………………………………Full Article: Source

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) index of commodity prices fell 0.7 percent in June, from May, due mainly to falls in oil and thermal coal.
In May, the index declined by a revised 1.3 percent in special drawing rights (SDR) terms. The index reading of 132.6 in June was 10.5 percent lower than the same month last year. Much of that decline was due to lower prices for iron ore and coking coal………………………………………..Full Article: Source

New Zealand commodity prices fell to the lowest level in more than two years in June, led by dairy products such as milk powder, as Europe’s debt crisis weighs on global prices.
The ANZ Commodity Price Index fell 2.4 per cent last month to its lowest level since March 2010, the fifth straight monthly decline. Whole milk powder fell 7 per cent, leading a 4 per cent slide in prices of dairy products………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Commodity Price Index inched down by 0.1 per cent in May, the sixth consecutive monthly decline. The All Items Index has so far fallen 15.9 per cent below its April 2011 near-term peak, just prior to the advent of concern over excessive European sovereign debt. However, the correction remains much less than the 46 per cent slide in the second half of 2008.
“Concern over slowing global growth has pulled down riskier assets such as commodities and equities,” Patricia Mohr, vice-president Economics and Commodity Market Specialist at Scotiabank said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A plunge in global commodity prices is tilting the balance in favour of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S Bernanke and colleagues who may seek further action to boost growth as the US labour market falters and risks from Europe rise.
The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Total Return Index of 24 commodities has fallen 16% since May 1. Oil is down 21%, and corn has slumped 18%. Inflation, as measured by the personal consumption expenditures index, slowed to an annual 1.8% rate in April, below the Fed’s 2% goal………………………………………..Full Article: Source

World food prices are expected to have fallen in May for a second month, easing inflation and food security concerns, as intensifying worries about a slowing global economy and euro zone debt led to a sell-off in grains and other commodities.
The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) will update its monthly Food Price Index on Thursday. It is also due to update its outlook for crops………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Commodities dropped to a five-month low, extending this year’s decline, on mounting concern that Greece will leave the euro, roiling financial markets and eroding the outlook for raw-material demand.
The Standard & Poor’s GSCI gauge of 24 raw materials fell 1.6 percent to 617.96 at 3:15 p.m. in New York, after touching 613.95, the lowest since Dec. 19. The index is down 4.2 percent this year, heading for the first annual decline since the recession of 2008………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Commodities are struggling, and that’s not good for Canadian investors or for anyone who has tapped into the argument that a commodities “super cycle” – driven largely by surging demand in China – would maintain upward pressure on prices for raw materials for a long, long time.
The Reuters/Jefferies CRB index of 19 commodities has slumped a total of 22 per cent since April 2011, conforming to the popular definition of a bear market. It is now at its lowest level since October 2010………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Commodity prices registered their fifth consecutive monthly decline on the Scotiabank Commodity Price Index, declining 2.3 per cent in April from a month earlier. The index has fallen more than 15 per cent from its near-term peak in April 2011, as slowing growth in China and economic malaise in Europe weigh on markets.
Oil and gas led the decline as the price discount on ‘Western Canadian Select’ (relative to West Texas Intermediate oil) widened to $32.81 (U.S.) a barrel, from $31.41………………………………………..Full Article: Source

With gloomy trade news almost daily, farmers are likely to revise their farm budgets downwards. Given pastoral agriculture spends around $13 billion on goods and services each year, this has implications for both the provincial and national economy.
“It’s no secret while primary export volumes have increased, commodity prices are in retreat,” says Bruce Wills, Federated Farmers President and economics and commerce spokesperson………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) index of commodity prices dipped 1.6 percent in April, from March, due mainly to falls in coal, gold, oil and aluminium. In March, the index had risen 0.5 percent in special drawing rights (SDR) terms.
The index reading of 137.8 in April was 4.2 percent lower than the same month last year. Much of that fall was due to lower prices for coal, iron ore and wheat, the RBA said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Commodity returns will take divergent paths as recommendations to actively manage exposures resonate amid higher energy price risk. Petroleum prices have taken control of the commodity complex once again. This was the main cause for a very healthy gain of over 6% for the S&P GSCI index in February.
Tension with Iran, the avoidance of a eurozone meltdown (at least for now) and an improving global economic backdrop has generally eased fears and pushed equity markets markedly higher in some places. A weaker US dollar also assisted, as has a backwardated petroleum curve………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A measure of Canadian commodity prices dropped for the fourth straight month in March, led by declines in the prices of oil and gas, Scotia Economics reported Thursday.

The Scotiabank commodity price index slipped 2.9 per cent in March from February, and is 5.2 per cent below the reading for March 2011 — the first time the index has shown a year-over-year decline since October 2009, the report said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. announced the launch of the NASDAQ Commodity Index Family, a broad and diverse representation of the commodities markets that provides investors with exposure across all major commodity sectors. The commodity index family is available in five distinct roll versions to offer investors different investment strategies.

The NASDAQ Commodity Index Family is the latest offering from The NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group, a premier full-service index provider. The index family consists of the primary benchmark — the NASDAQ Commodity Benchmark Index (NQCI) — a liquidity-based tradable index, as well as 10 sector and 33 single indexes. The five main sectors covered by the NASDAQ Commodity Index family are energy, industrial metals, precious metals, agriculture and livestock.(Press Release)

The Nasdaq Global OMX Index Group is rolling out a family of 450 commodity indexes on April 23 that is designed to measure the performance of single commodities as well as sectors through the use of futures contracts.
The new Nasdaq Commodity Index family consists of a broad benchmark, an open interest and liquidity-based index, 33 single indexes and five major sectors that include energy, industrial metals, precious metals, agriculture and livestock. Narrower sectors include petroleum, grains and softs…………………………………………Full Article: Source

United States Commodity Funds, provider of the world’s largest oil exchange traded fund, has rolled a new ETF that holds a basket of 14 widely traded farm-related futures.
United States Agriculture Index Fund (USAG), tracking the SummerHaven Dynamic Agriculture Index Total Return, offers exposure to soybeans, corn, soft red winter wheat, hard red winter wheat, soybean oil, soybean meal, canola, sugar, cocoa, coffee, cotton, live cattle, feeder cattle and lean hogs…………………………………………Full Article: Source

Commodities will decline this quarter as central banks in the U.S. and Europe refrain from adding further stimulus, removing the driver that helped to lift prices in the first three months, according to UBS AG.
“In the absence of further injections in the second quarter, we expect prices to drift lower,” analysts led by Hong Kong-based Peter Hickson said in an e-mailed report today. Crude oil, copper, nickel and cotton may decline, the report said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Export commodity prices continued to slide last month and in NZ dollar terms are now 17.6 per cent lower than their peak a year ago, according to ANZ’s commodity price index.
In world price terms the index fell 1.7 per cent last month to its lowest level since December 2010 and 10 per cent off its high last May. Eleven of the 17 commodities ANZ tracks fell, three were unchanged and three rose………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Long only commodity indices have performed strongly so far this year. However, there has been a significant divergence across the DBLCI index family. In terms of market neutral strategies, the most favourable looks to be the DB Commodity Curve Alpha index heading into Q2, 2011.
Crude Oil: Oil prices are moving towards levels that lead to demand destruction. While lower natural gas and power prices are helpful, investors should adopt cautiously bearish view heading into the second quarter and recommend selling Brent backwardation………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index of 24 commodities rose the most in three months, led by gains in petroleum and metals, after a report showed manufacturing in the U.S. expanded at a faster pace than forecast.
The index climbed 1.8 percent to 701.04 as of 3:30 p.m. in New York, the biggest one-day gain since Jan. 3, after the Institute for Supply Management’s factory index increased to 53.4 last month from 52.4 in February, the Tempe, Arizona-based group’s data showed………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) index of commodity prices rose 0.6 percent in March, from February, thanks mainly to increases in prices of iron ore and oil.
In February, the index rose an upwardly revised 1.2 percent in special drawing rights (SDR) terms. The index reading of 140.9 in March was 2.7 percent above the same month last year. Much of this rise has been due to increases in the prices of coal, gold and oil, the RBA said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The best first-quarter gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since 1998 sent U.S. stocks above gold by the most in more than a decade, a sign of growing investor confidence in corporate profits as analysts raise earnings estimates for the first time this year.
The S&P 500 climbed 12 percent, 5.3 percentage points more than gold for the widest gap to start a year since 1999, according to data compiled by Bloomberg………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The value of Canada’s commodities declined for a third consecutive month in February, but the price of at least one resource should rise in the next couple of months, according to the latest report from Scotiabank.
While the overall Scotiabank Commodity Price Index fell 0.7% month over month, the North American spring planting season is just around the corner, and that should boost the value of potash. The potash rally will be aided by rallying oilseed prices, led by soybeans , but expected to extend to canola as well………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Investor interest in alpha commodity index products has surged over the past year and banks are hard at work creating more of them. Can these exotic new instruments really provide a sustainable source of absolute return? And is the market getting too crowded?
In the beginning, things were simple when it came to index products. Back in 1991, Wall Street bankers created the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (now called the S&P GSCI) to track the prices of a basket of 24 commodities………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The behavior of gold stocks during this gold bull market is really not that different to the gold bull market of the ‘70s. It was not until almost the end of the bull market (in 1979) that the gold stocks really started to take-off.
Those who think gold stocks will not rise during this bull market will be disappointed, and need to consider the evidence presented here………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Negative real interest rates, coordinated money-printing by Bernanke and his international counterparts, rising emerging markets–little wonder that commodity fund assets have tripled since the commodity-price peak in mid-2008.
It helps that back tests show long-only, futures-based commodity indexes had equitylike returns and little correlation to the markets, the holy grail of portfolio diversification. The rush to carve out a static allocation to commodity indexes such as the S&P GSCI or the DJ-UBS Commodity Index is, in our view, suboptimal behavior………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A tectonic shift is occurring in the Canadian economy that will see oil increasingly become the dominant driver of wealth in the country, says the Bank of Nova Scotia’s chief commodity analyst.
Patricia Mohr, vice-president of economics and commodity market specialist at Scotiabank, says there have been dramatic shifts in the export of natural resources in the last few years, with oil and gas commodities the clear winners and lumber products suffering since the U.S. housing market crashed………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The world of commodity investment consists of many different products which all have different dynamics and they therefore tend to offer a significant performance difference which often makes it difficult or even confusing to follow. In order to better understand and follow these markets several different commodity indices have emerged over the years.
A commodity index either invests in or tracks the performance of a group of commodities based on predefined rules………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) is an important gauge of the world’s economic activity. The BDI measures shipping rates for dry commodities such as iron, coal and grains across the globe. The index covers 26 of the major shipping routes used around the world, and is therefore a good indicator of global economic activity.
In theory, when BDI rates are high that usually signals strong shipping activity which usually means a strong economic situation………………………………………..Full Article: Source

It has been a good start to the year for industrial and precious metals, reflecting increasing optimism towards commodities. ETF providers have responded to bullish sentiments with the launch of both broad commodity- and sector-targeted funds
Industrial and precious metals have boasted strong returns at the start of 2012, exemplifying a surge in confidence towards commodities this year. The S&P GSCI Precious Metals index was up 13.46% year to date, with industrial metals following closely with an increase of 9.37%………………………………………..Full Article: Source

What you see above is the biggest downturn in the RBA’s commodity price index since the big crash in 2008. Mind you it doesn’t look quite as severe, at least not yet. Last time around in 2008, the rush to cash in global markets caused people to sell a lot of their speculative commodity positions. Base metals in particular got smashed.
Base metals - lead, zinc, copper, nickel, and aluminium - make up 15.7% of the index, according to the RBA. Metallurgical coal (for steel making) makes up 14.7%, iron ore 9.3% and thermal coal (for power plants) makes up 9.7%………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) index of commodity prices rose by 0.2 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in terms of special drawing rights (SDRs).
That followed a run of falls that brought the index down by 6.7 per cent between August and December, according to the preliminary estimates from the central bank. The RBA said gold and oil prices were the largest contributors to the increase in January, helped along by base metals and most rural commodities………………………………………..Full Article: Source

New Zealand commodity prices rose for the first time in eight months in January, led by aluminium and dairy products, though the high kiwi dollar wiped out the benefits in local currency terms.
The ANZ Commodity Price Index rose 1.2 per cent in January, having fallen 9.8 per cent in the previous seven months. The ANZ NZD Commodity Price Index fell 2.9 per cent to a 14-month low, reflecting the strengthening kiwi dollar………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Commodity shipping costs slumped to the lowest in a quarter century as a glut of new carriers overwhelmed demand at a time of slowing global economic growth.
The Baltic Dry Index (BDIY), a measure of costs across four vessel sizes, retreated 2.6 percent to 662 points today, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange, which publishes rates across more than 50 maritime routes………………………………………..Full Article: Source

In her latest edition of the Scotiabank Commodity Price Index, economist Patricia Mohr noted base metals rallied strongly in January, with copper as the star performer. Chinese imports of copper surged to a record high in December helping prompt hedge funds to switch to a net long position in copper, after shorting the market last September, Mohr observed.
“LME copper climbed as high as US$3.91 on January 27-yielding an exceptional profit margin over average world breakeven costs; prices had fallen as low as US$3.08 in early October,” she said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Commodities entered 2012 on more positive footing after the eurozone debt crisis sent resource prices into sharp retreat in the latter half of 2011, Scotiabank said Tuesday.
“Sentiment has improved in early 2012,” said Patricia Mohr, author of Scotiabank’s Commodity Price Index, “with some investment and hedge funds shifting from short to long positions in base metals, notwithstanding bouts of concern over the euro zone.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Citi has launched a commodities index that allows qualified investors to invest in a portfolio of 24 commodities in a risk balanced approach.
Dubbed VIBE Commodities, the index uses historical volatility and inter-commodity correlations to weigh its 24 commodity components so that the risk contribution of each commodity to the overall volatility of the index is close to equal. (Press Release)

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, which tracks rates to ship dry commodities, fell to its lowest in over three years on Wednesday as slow cargo trade and a surplus of vessels dragged sentiment down.
The overall index fell 23 points or 2.85 percent to 784 points and was at its lowest since Jan. 6, 2009. The shipping sector in coming months is expected to face a supply glut and glum economic outlook, including concerns over Chinese demand for raw materials, which will pressure earnings………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A quirky canary-in-the-coal-mine indicator for global economic activity is in freefall, but market experts can’t agree on whether it’s a sign of danger or an accident of recent history on the high seas.
The Baltic Dry Index – an index of global freight rates for shipping dry commodities such as iron ore, coal and grain – had fallen for 23 consecutive days as of last Friday, cutting its value in half in the space of a month. The last time the index was this low, the world was in the depths of a credit crisis and a major recession………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Commodity index swap investments rose by $300 million for the week ended Jan. 3, Citigroup Inc. estimated.

For all December, almost $2 billion was taken out of commodities, driven by redemptions in exchange traded products, Aakash Doshi, a strategist at Citigroup, said……………………………………Full Article: Source

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) index of commodity prices fell by 1.0 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in terms of special drawing rights (SDRs). That followed a fall of 0.2 per cent in November, revised from a small increase, according to the preliminary estimates from the central bank.
The RBA said the price of gold exports headed downward, as did the export prices of coking coal and iron ore which are adjusting to lower spot and contract prices. Despite the recent falls, the SDR measure of commodity prices was still up by 11 per cent from a year earlier………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Given gold’s recent lethargy, it’s easy to forget just how well it has performed over the last twelve months. At the time of this writing (early December 2011), gold is up around 22% on the year.
Compare this to the major global stock indices: The U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average is up around 4%; the UK FTSE100 is down 7%, the German DAX has fallen 14% while the Japanese Nikkei 225 is down 15% and the Shanghai Composite is heading for an 18% loss. Even when looking at other metals, gold has outperformed. Silver is about 3% higher while COMEX copper has fallen around 20% over the last twelve months………………………………………..Full Article: Source