From iii.co.uk: Fear of a global slowdown has caught up with high-flying commodities stocks after a sharp decline in oil and metal prices, more gloom in the U.S. economy and a glimmer of deceleration in China.

“You’ve got an economic slowdown and markets are slowly coming to terms with it. Some of the speculation that was looking for safe harbour in commodities is starting to unwind,” said Mark Konyn, chief executive of Allianz SE’s RCM Asia Pacific arm, which manages about $15 billion. “Our longer-term view is still for a structural uptrend, because we don’t see the demand easing at all and we still see some supply side constraints.”

Investors have relied for months on China’s boom supporting prices for oil, copper, aluminium and steel, even as the U.S. economy has suffered a housing crisis that has taken it to the brink of recession. Richer households in China and India have also contributed to a sharp rise in food prices…… Full Article: Source

The continent’s bureaucrats hope their counterparts in China, India, and the U.S. will embrace carbon regulation next year in Copenhagen

The bureaucrats that run the European Union’s day-to-day business aren’t known for taking risks. Yet back in 2005, when they devised the EU Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS), these pencil pushers gambled that a cap-and-trade scheme would help cut the EU’s carbon dioxide emissions. Now, three years on, the environmental benefits from the EU ETS remain unclear: The continent’s CO2 output actually rose 1.1% last year.

Moreover, its impact on the European economy is far from clear. Optimists think Europe’s early adoption of a cap-and-trade CO2 market will give local companies a competitive advantage when other regions of the world finally start trading carbon. Under the EU ETS, companies are given a set number of carbon allowances (the “cap” in cap and trade), which then can be bought and sold on the open market. In theory, this provides a financial incentive for firms to become more energy efficient, giving European businesses a head start in cutting overhead just as fuel costs begin to hit company profits…… Full Article: Source

From wsj.com: IntercontinentalExchange Inc. reported a 58% rise in second-quarter profit, and the head of the commodity-derivatives specialist said major oil companies are continuing to shift their hedging strategies through an increased use of options contracts.

CEO Jeff Sprecher defended ICE’s recent loss of market share to arch-rival Nymex Holdings Inc., saying that volumes in the benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude-oil futures contract on Nymex had been boosted by business from SemGroup L.P., the U.S. oil-trading group that recently filed for bankruptcy protection.

ICE and Nymex, operator of the New York Mercantile Exchange, are the two largest global venues for trading energy derivatives, and both benefited from this year’s market volatility…… Full Article: Source

From telegraph.co.uk: Independent oil and gas group Imperial Energy has confirmed that it received an approach regarding another “possible cash offer” for the company.
Imperial, whose shares are traded in London but is focused on assets in Russia, did not identify the company involved.

However, Sinopec is understood to be planning an offer and has been granted access to its books to begin due diligence. Sinopec is said to be prepared to trump a putative £12.90-a-share offer from India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and table a bid that could value the FTSE 250 group at around £1.3bn…… Full Article: Source

From gulfnews.com: The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) recorded the highest volumes in July, with 186,842 contracts traded reaching in excess of $12 billion, an increase of 227 per cent over last year. Total volumes recorded from January to July went up 56 per cent over the previous year. The number of traded contracts for the period reached 821,388 with a value of $ 43.3 billion.

“Interest in derivatives is certainly gaining ground in the region, as evidenced by the growing trade on DGCX,” said Malcolm Wall Morris, DGCX chief executive officer…… Full Article: Source

China has launched an environmental exchange in Beijing, marking the first stage in its efforts to create a nationwide emissions trading platform.

The China Beijing Environmental Exchange will allow trade in environmental technology as well as sulfur dioxide and chemical oxygen demand permits…… Full Article: Source

From reuters.co.uk: Platinum tumbled to its lowest level in more than six months on Tuesday, extending a 6-percent drop in the previous session, on fears of falling demand from automakers, while gold hovered below $900 on weaker oil. Platinum prices have taken a dramatic turn since spiking to a record high above $2,000 an ounce in March, losing much of their gains to profit taking and a slowing U.S. economy that threatens to slash demand for autocatalysts.

Spot platinum fell as low as $1,530.00 an ounce, its weakest since late January, before bouncing to $1,541.50/1,561 an ounce on light buying from jewellers — still down from $1,551.00/1,571.00 late in New York on Monday. “There’s a little bit of improvement in demand from the jewellery sector,” said Dick Poon, manager of precious metals at Heraeus Ltd in Hong Kong.

But volumes were low with many manufacturers still on summer holiday, said Poon, who pegged the downside at $1,480 an ounce. “It’s only a small recovery right now,” he said…… Full Article: Source

From commodities-now.com: The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., a subsidiary of NYMEX Holdings, Inc., today announced that it plans to introduce a futures contract based on prevailing market prices for hot-rolled steel coil in the U.S. Midwest region (U.S. Midwest domestic hot-rolled coil steel) early in the fourth quarter of 2008. The contract will be financially settled against an index developed by CRU Indices Ltd., a subsidiary of CRU International Ltd., a leading supplier of steel industry information.

The contract size will be 20 short tons with a minimum price fluctuation of $0.50 per short ton and the contract will be listed for 18 consecutive months. Final settlement on the monthly contract will be the average price calculated for all available price assessments published for that given month. The steel futures contract will be available for trading on the CME Globex® electronic trading platform, and off-exchange transactions can be submitted for clearing via NYMEX ClearPort®.

NYMEX Chairman Richard Schaeffer said, “NYMEX’s expansion into the steel market is a natural extension of our risk management business and we are pleased to offer a steel futures contract to serve the North American market. Managing price volatility has become a necessity for everyone involved along the steel supply chain and these contracts will assist the U.S. manufacturing industry in dealing with this issue.”….. Full Article: Source

From mineweb.com: One of the major mining mergers in Australia that suffered a share market mauling not dissimilar to some of the low market capitalisation junior explorers, believes investors need to look at the upside now available.

Peter Lester, general manager-business development for Oz Minerals Ltd (ASX: OZL; Pink Sheets & ADR: OXFLY) told delegates on the opening day of the Diggers & Dealers Forum in Kalgoorlie that the current market capitalisation of the company discounts the value of several of its mines, its cash and exploration properties.

Oz Minerals emerged from the merger of Zinifex Ltd and Oxiana Ltd which have mines and advanced projects in Australia, Laos, Indonesia, Thailand, Canada, China, North Africa, Sweden and Mexico…… Full Article: Source

From miamiherald.com: Oil prices drop to just above $120 on expectations US economic woes will cut consumer demand. Oil prices fell to near $120 a barrel Tuesday in Asia on expectations the economic downturn in the U.S. will erode consumer demand for crude products.

“The main factor weighing on oil prices is worries about oil consumption being weakened, especially in the U.S.,” said David Moore, a commodity strategist with Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell $1.06 to $120.35 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore. The contract dropped $3.69 overnight to settle at $121.41 a barrel…… Full Article: Source

From allafrica.com: Government has suspended the exportation of basic commodities, including sugar, cooking oil and salt, for the next 12 months in a move expected to augment local supplies.

This comes at a time when there are shortages of basic commodities in shops yet the same goods are abundantly available in neighbouring countries like Mozambique. A senior Zimbabwe Revenue Authority official confirmed the latest development in an interview on Friday.

“It is indeed true that the exportation of specified basic commodities has been suspended. This is with effect from 23 July 2008 and will last for a period of 12 months,” said Zimra’s legal and corporate services commissioner, Ms Florence Jambwa…… Full Article: Source

From mineweb.com: The dollar metal price has shed USD 700 an ounce in five months; listed producers swoon and swoon again. On Monday, amid an ongoing rout in most anything to do with commodities, dollar platinum metal prices smashed down around USD 100 to well below USD 1,600 an ounce, triggering further profit taking in listed platinum producers. The world’s three Tier I platinum miners - Anglo Platinum, Impala Platinum, and Lonmin - have now each declined by 40% and more in just a few months.

During these months, it has been widely said that the fundamentals for platinum were probably the least controversial of all commodities. However, given the extent of the dollar metal price decline, some 32% from the historic record USD 2,301 an ounce seen in March, the platinum flurry now appears to have been a mania, similar to that seen in recent years in the likes of nickel, lead, zinc and uranium.

Earlier this year, the three conditions required for a mania may have converged in platinum, sending the prices for the metal and its two key sister metals, palladium and rhodium, into orbit. There had been displacements on the supply side, mainly a series of running negative factors in South Africa, not least power disruption problems. These crystallised during January, when Eskom, the state power monopoly, virtually shut down the country’s mining sector for a week…… Full Article: Source

From telegraph.co.uk: Brazilian mining company Vale has placed a $1.6bn (£1.3bn) order for 12 huge iron ore carriers from China’s Rongsheng shipbuilder to help cut costs and boost its trade with Asia, the company said.

Vale said the ships would be the largest of their kind and will be used to create a “dedicated route” to ship the company’s iron ore from Brazil to Asia, a key market where iron ore is used as the main raw ingredient for steel production.

The ships, which Rongsheng Shipbuilding and Heavy Industries will build for Vale - the world’s largest iron ore producer - will have a capacity of 400,000 deadweight tons each. The ship deal comes on top of a $59bn investment program through 2013 already promised by Vale…… Full Article: Source

From commodities-now.com: BlueNext have announced that the spot contract for Certified Emissions Reductions (CER) will be launched on August 12, 2008. BlueNext is the leading exchange for the EUA spot market with over 9,000,000 tonnes traded in July 2008 and a daily record of 805,000 tonnes. BlueNext, the Paris-based environmental exchange is a partnership between NYSE Euronext and Caisse des Dépôts. The contract will be with physical delivery of tonnes of CER and will be listed on the same trading platform as the existing contracts i.e. BlueNext Spot EUA 2008-2012, BlueNext Futures EUA and BlueNext Futures CER.

Thirty four companies have so far signed up as members of the CERs Spot contract. The Spot CER contract will use essentially the same infrastructure as BlueNext Spot EUA; however the delivery will be made in Swiss registry and not, as it is currently the case for the EUA contract, in the French registry. BlueNext is the only exchange that has the ability to automatically filter CERs to ensure that only those that originate in projects that meet EU ETS regulatory requirements will be transferred.

The list of projects registered by the UNFCCC for which the CER are negotiable on BlueNext is published on the BlueNext website www.bluenext.eu and will be updated on a regular basis. This list excludes Land Use Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) projects and hydro electric projects with a generating capacity exceeding 20 MW…… Full Article: Source

From tradingcharts.com: Silver has always been the second choice for consumers after the glitter of gold, but when it comes to investors the yellow metal is giving just about half the return compared to its whitish-grey cousin. After outpacing gold’s return of just about 14 per cent with over 30 per cent appreciation in 2007, silver is still maintaining a significant lead this year.

The average return from investment in silver has grown by about 18 per cent since January this year, as against about 12 per cent for gold in the same period, the experts said.

“Buoyed by industrial demand, silver prices are rising significantly in line with gold. In fact, volatility in white metal have been much higher than gold this year both in global as well as domestic market,” brokerage firm Karvy Comtrade’s Research Head Harish G told PTI…… Full Article: Source

From abc.net.au: Climate change protesters and coal traders alike say the question of the coal industry’s future is daft, but agreement ends there. For protesters coal contributes drastically to climate change, while for traders coal is an energy no-brainer which offers hope to the 1.6 billion people currently living without electricity.

And they are probably both right. By mid-century the world could have an extra three billion people and four times the wealth. Somehow, it must also halve carbon emissions from its main energy source, fossil fuels, to rein in dangerous global warming, scientists say…… Full Article: Source

From mineweb.com: Rio Tinto is committing major funding to pre-feasibility studies on its huge underground Resolution copper project in Arizona, US. UK/Australian mining house, Rio Tinto (RIO:L) (RIO:AX), has announced major expenditures to support pre-feasibility studies on what could be the largest ever underground copper mine in the US - and a major Tier 1 copper producer on the world scene.

The company plans to invest $652 million (of which the Rio Tinto plc share would be $341 million and Resolution Copper Mining - effectively owned 55 percent by Rio into and 45 percent by BHP Billiton - would be responsible for the balance.)

The Resolution project is located close to Superior, Arizona which has a long mining history mostly based around the big Magma underground copper mine which was shut down a few years ago. It appears that the Resolution orebody is adjacent to, and deeper than, the old Magma deposits. It appears to be a world class deposit by any standards with the most recent grade and tonnage estimates showing an Inferred Resource of 1.34 billion tonnes grading 1.51 per cent copper and 0.040 per cent molybdenum. However, because of the depth which is more than 1,000 metres below surface, to mine this would be a major undertaking. But the grades are good by moderns standards and the company is looking at a big block caving operation for the project…… Full Article: Source

From resourceinvestor.com: Unlike the metals, the varying ranks of coal as well as mine-specific quality prevent coal from trading like a .9999-purity LME metal. Moreover, even otherwise sophisticated, big-time venture capitalists can stumble when investing in coal. Consultant friends of the writer have been called in to salvage as much of the original investment as possible when the unexpected occurred. And the U.S. industry faces potential new regulatory strictures that could have major capital–as well as productivty and operating cost–implications totalling into the billions of dollars.

A mining engineering consultant, with over 30 years in the business, commented that, “we’re now seeing the same old ‘dogs barking’ (poor properties) that haven’t been heard from in over 20 years.” In other words, as in many industries, boom times bring out all manner of opportunities, both good and bad. Certainly the perennial scammers can be found within the coal industry, making inflated or false representations on coal-bearing properties. Others might have a going operation but find a way to loot it in the process of selling it to an investor. More typically those issues affect smaller, private capital entities. However, perhaps there’s a bigger risk going forward that can afflict otherwise solid, publicly traded producers…… Full Article: Source

From steelmillsoftheworld.com: Chinese hot rolled steel export offers are expected to see further decrease in the coming weeks.

Domestic HRC prices are still on the decrease. On Shanghai market, commercial 4.75mm to 12mm*1500mm HRC goes at CNY 5600 per ton to CNY 5630 per ton down by CNY 140 per ton from last week. That for 1800mm wide cargo goes at CNY 6100 per ton down by CNY 100 per ton WoW. However, price for commodity grade 2.75mm HRC remain at CNY 6300 per ton.

Taking Shanghai price for commercial 4.75mm to 12mm*1500mm HRC as benchmark, the pressure of downward correction would sustain unless it could not exceed CNY 6000 per ton. In short term, it probably would keep fluctuating between CNY 5500 per ton to CNY 6000 per ton…… Full Article: Source

From marketwatch.com: CME Group, the world’s largest and most diverse derivatives exchange and the world’s leading marketplace for equity index futures and options, today announced that it has expanded its equity index product team by appointing Helen Flanagan as Director, Equity Markets, and Phillip Hatzopoulos as Director, Equity Products - OTC. These newly created positions are designed to focus on selling and marketing CME Group’s suite of benchmark equity index products to current and potential clients worldwide.

Flanagan, 44, will be responsible for facilitating CME Group’s equity product growth strategy, including increasing trading volume and distribution of equity index futures and options and assisting in the development and launch of new products and services across all asset classes. Hatzopoulos, 42, will be responsible for developing new equity index products and services related to the over-the-counter (OTC) market and promoting CME Group’s existing equity index products as tools to replicate and hedge OTC transactions…… Full Article: Source

From cnn.com: Oil prices are falling sharply, and that’s good news. But not nearly as good as you might think. No doubt the drop, down to $120 by mid-day Monday, gives strapped consumers relief at the gas pump. Prices have dropped below $4 a gallon and could be headed toward $3.50, going by trading in wholesale futures markets. Any decline will be welcomed by Americans struggling under the burden of falling house prices, rising layoffs and stagnant wages.

But falling oil prices also suggest that the recession the U.S. has so far avoided is well on its way, as consumers pull back from the spending spree that drove economic growth earlier this decade. A weakening economy will mean more layoffs, further pressuring already reduced spending.

“There is no doubt that with gasoline prices dipping below $3.90 a gallon we have a bit of a reprieve on the energy front,” Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg wrote in a report Monday, “but the reality is that this is a chicken and egg game because the decline is reflecting the consumer recession.” ….. Full Article: Source

From usatoday.com: Barack Obama put forward a broad energy plan Monday designed to end U.S. reliance on imported oil within 10 years amid high-anxiety over gasoline prices. Obama’s proposal includes two reversals of positions he has taken in the past: He had fought the idea of limited new offshore drilling and was against tapping the nation’s emergency oil stockpile to relieve gasoline prices that have stubbornly hovered around $4 a gallon.

On Monday, Obama pushed for drawing from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and reiterated an offshore drilling position he first revealed Friday: He could live with it if it is done in an environmentally sound way and as part of comprehensive, bipartisan legislation on energy.

In a speech in Michigan, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee also endorsed long-term work on hybrid cars and renewable energy sources…… Full Article: Source

From xinhuanet.com: The dollar was mixed against major currencies on Monday as oil prices tumbled and U.S. consumer spending slowed on rising prices. The U.S. Commerce Department reported that consumer spending was up 0.6 percent in June, lower than the reading of 0.8 percent in May. When adjusted for the effect of higher prices, consumer spending fell 0.2 percent in June.

The report also showed an inflation gauge tied to consumer spending rose sharply by 0.8 percent in June, the second biggest monthly increase since 1981. Oil prices touched a three-month low on Monday as Tropical Storm Edouard seemed less likely to disrupt oil and natural gas output in the Gulf of Mexico. It eased some concerns on consumer spending and inflation…… Full Article: Source

From bangkokpost.com: The government’s role is critical in raising awareness about carbon credit opportunities and helping to consolidate greenhouse gas emission reductions with Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects, say global experts on carbon trading. Thailand still lags China and India in CDM development but attention is becoming more focused here, said Kunnigar Triyangkulsri, chief executive of Barclays Capital (Thailand), a leader in emission trading.

Thailand has 46 CDM projects in hand out of about 3,000 globally for about 2.2 billion CO2 reduction credits, compared to 1,300 in China and 1,100 in India. There are small CDM projects scattered around Thailand and the government could probably help them to consolidate into one feasible CDM, said Mrs Kunnigar. By doing so, the government would enable them to have more access to sources of funding…… Full Article: Source

From reuters.com: The most active Tokyo platinum contract dropped by the daily 300 yen limit on Tuesday as speculators ditched their contracts on persistent fears of falling demand from automakers.

The benchmark contract for June 2009 delivery <0#JPL:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange fell as low as 5,305 yen per gram — its weakest since late January, and well below a record of 7,427 yen hit on March 6…… Full Article: Source

From indiatimes.com: Reliance Money, the securities brokerage and distribution company of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, will tie-up with the Ahmedabad-based commodity futures exchange National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE) to set up a spot exchange for agri commodities. The new institution will be called National Agriculture Produce Marketing Company of India (National APMC).

The spot exchange will provide an electronic trading platform and have an arrangement for deliveries at the designated warehouses and mandis. It will electronically connect the various mandis. The exchange is expected to be launched in three months in Gujarat and Rajasthan…… Full Article: Source

From bloomberg.com: Plunging prices for cocoa, natural gas and sugar sent the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities to its biggest one-day decline since March. The CRB index fell 3.4 percent to 401.98, which marks the largest slide since March 19. The gauge dropped to the lowest level since May 2 today, as did the UBS-Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index.

The CRB slid 10 percent in July, the most in any month since March 1980, when the U.S. economy was in a recession. A worsening global growth outlook and prospects for increased supply sent raw materials such as crude oil, soybeans and gasoline tumbling from records in the past month…… Full Article: Source

From mondovisione.com: The London Stock Exchange today welcomed nineteen new Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) onto its Main Market, the busiest ever day for new ETF admissions on the Exchange. The new funds, which cover a range of equity and bond indices, take the total number of ETFs on the Exchange to 166, from five different issuers. In addition, the Exchange also now offers access to trading in 122 Exchange Traded Commodities (ETCs).

Following on from a record 2007, ETF trading on the London Stock Exchange has continued to show strong growth in the first half of this year, with the total value traded on the order book during the first six months of 2008 up 67% year on year to £7.3 billion. The total value traded in ETCs during the first half of the year was £5.3 billion, more than five times the total value traded in ETCs during 2007…… Full Article: Source

From dailyfx.com: The Australian dollar has fallen significantly through recent currency trading, as the highly commodity-sensitive currency continue to trade lower on a similar tumble in gold and other commodity prices. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB index registered its single-largest daily loss since March—driven by a $4.30 dive in crude oil futures. Given that the Australian Dollar previously rallied to post-float record highs on similar heights in major commodity markets, it is perhaps little surprise to see the AUDUSD fall significantly on the recent downturn. In fact, the Australian Dollar currently holds its strongest year-long correlation to the CRB Index since the currency’s free-float in 1984…… Full Article: Source

From businessspectator.com.au: Today everyone will be on the edge of their seats wondering what the Reserve Bank will do on interest rates. Strangely, we will look back on the first Monday and Tuesday of August 2008 and think the Reserve Bank decision –which ever way it goes – was not the main game. Rates are going to come down whether it be this month, the next or later in the year.

What makes August 3 and 4 significant on the downside is what happened overnight in the commodities market. What was significant on the upside was the emergence of “smart” money to buy key assets. And that weakness in commodities has really cracked our share market this morning and multiplied the effects of our domestic slow down and the overseas morass…… Full Article: Source

From cnn.com: Steel maker Commercial Metals sells $500 million in notes, due 2018. Steel maker Commercial Metals Co., which has been acquiring assets, said Monday it sold $500 million of 10-year senior unsecured notes. The notes have a coupon rate of 7.35 percent and were sold at the offering price of $998.28 for each $1,000 of principal to yield 7.374 percent to maturity.

Commercial Metals entered into a hedge transaction based on then-existing Treasury rates to cut the company’s effective interest rate cost on the notes to about 7.29 percent. Both Moody’s Investors Service Inc. and Standard & Poor’s assigned an investment-grade rating to the notes…… Full Article: Source

From theglobeandmail.com: Even with crude’s record highs crashing down, high fuel costs have left a mark on consumer spending. The price of crude oil slid to its lowest level in three months yesterday, leaving energy experts scurrying for explanations that ranged from the altered tack of tropical storm Edouard in the Gulf of Mexico, to Barack Obama’s tentative support for offshore drilling, to a weaker-than-expected U.S. spending report.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell $3.69 (U.S.) or 2.9 per cent to $121.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, just three weeks after touching a record of $147.27. Analysts and traders, who have been whipsawed by volatility in the crude markets, were also quick to finger technical selling by large investors and higher production numbers from OPEC as culprits for the drop…… Full Article: Source

From briefing.com: The stock market is trading with a modest loss as a steep decline in energy stocks (-3.7%) act as the main drag. The financial sector (-0.4%) makes it back to the unchanged mark and then runs into some modest resistance.

Crude oil (-3.2% at $121.12) continues to trade with a steep loss. Commodities as a whole are under selling pressure, as all 19 components within the CRB Index (-3.1%) are posting a loss. The session’s worst performing commodities include cocoa (-7.6%), natural gas (-6.7%), soybeans (-5.1%) and corn (-5.0%)…… Full Article: Source

From advancedtrading.com: Calyon, the corporate and investment banking arm of Credit Agricole (CIB), has completed the deployment of OpenLink’s Endur system across its oil, US natural gas, base metals, European power, gas emissions and structured products within its commodity derivatives groups in London, New York, Houston and Hong Kong, according to Open Link Financial, a provider of cross-asset trading, risk management, operational and portfolio management software. The deployment of Endur involved a revamping of Calyon’s trading and operations infrastructure (trade capture, risk management, position keeping, operations management and accounting). It resulted in the replacement of many legacy systems within Calyon’s commodity derivatives group by OpenLink…… Full Article: Source

From gulf-times.com: The World Gold Council is targeting a fourth-quarter launch of its Dubai-listed exchange traded fund (ETF), rounding out its suite of gold ETFs on major markets after a listing in Hong Kong on Thursday. James Burton, chief executive of the industry body, said that after the Dubai listing, which would be that exchange’s first ever ETF, the WGC may take a pause.

“After Dubai, I would say there are no gaps (in availability of gold ETFs in major markets),” he said in an interview in Hong Kong, where he was launching the SPDR Gold Trust…… Full Article: Source

From hindu.com: NCDEX Institute of Commodity Markets and Research, a unit of the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), on Monday launched NCDEX Commodity Certification Course, the country’s first and only e-learning programme in the commodity sector.

It also launched NCDEX Commodity Professional Programme, a 50-hour part-time programme that combines e-learning, classroom training and online simulated trading.
The course which at present is available only in Delhi, commenced the first batch of its programme in the national capital, a release issued here said.

The NCDEX Commodity Certification Course is a self-study distance learning course aimed at equipping learners with both academic and applied knowledge pertaining to commodities training…… Full Article: Source

From allheadlinenews.com: A 3 percent sell-off in crude oil failed to spark any kind of sustained rally in the markets as all three major indices finished modestly lower on Monday. The commodity finished the session down $3.69 a barrel, settling at $121.41 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The energy sector followed suit, falling 4.9 percent. The materials sector was also weak, losing 4.2 percent; Freeport-McMoran was the largest laggard, down 12 percent to $80.35.

The Dow Jones Industrial average fell 42 points or 0.37 percent as Exxon Mobil and Alcoa weighed on the index, both down more than 3 percent. The S&P 500 shed 11 points or 0.9 percent as only three of 10 major economic sectors posted a gain. Healthcare and consumer staples led the way, up 1.3 percent and 1.2 percent respectively. The healthcare stocks were sparked by a positive quarterly earnings report from Humana Inc…… Full Article: Source

From reuters.com: Many investors snapped up options in several commodity-related stocks and exchange-traded funds to insure their portfolios from another wave of selling as oil prices slid to a three-month low. U.S. light crude fell $3.69 at $121.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after falling to $119.50, the lowest since early May.

The pullback in oil spread quickly throughout the commodity complex. Coal, gold, silver, mining and agricultural stocks were also hit. “As the group faltered, investors scrambled to close out bullish trades, while others bought puts and put spreads on many individual stocks and ETFs in the sector,” said options strategist Frederic Ruffy at website WhatsTrading.com…… Full Article: Source