From Channelnewsasia.com: The global economic recovery could get derailed if oil prices rise too fast, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). It said the global economic recovery is proving to be more fragile than anticipated earlier, especially in Western nations.

As Western central banks pump more money into their anaemic economies, more cash may go swirling into commodities such as oil. And that could push prices up…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From AFP: The current oil supply and demand situation is likely to continue well into next year, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Monday, suggesting there would be no steep price changes. IEA executive director Nobuo Tanaka told AFP in an interview in Singapore that the market remained well supplied.

Oil prices have been hovering around 80 dollars a barrel in recent months after touching historic highs of more than 147 dollars a barrel in 2008 before the onset of the worst global recession since the 1930s…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From WSJ: Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi suggested Monday that the oil market could tolerate prices as high as $90 a barrel, increasing his previous estimate from as much as $80 and signaling to the market that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would let the price drift higher.

Naimi’s remarks came as oil prices were surging to a nearly five-month high, and could give the market a reason to keep rising where other rallies have crumbled over the last year, traders and analysts said…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Crude oil prices will rise as spare production capacity drops to “untenable levels” by the end of 2012, Morgan Stanley said in a research report.

Spare capacity passed its peak this year and may decline to 4.1 million barrels a day by the end of 2011 from 5.9 million barrels today, Hussein Allidina, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, said in the report today. It could drop to 2.5 million barrels a day by end-2012, he said…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From AFP: Current oil prices at above 80 dollars a barrel are within a “very comfortable zone” beneficial to producers, consumers and companies alike, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi said Monday. “I would say we are in a very comfortable zone,” he said in answer to a question after giving a keynote speech at an energy forum in Singapore.

“I believe this zone should continue for some time and I will not predict for how long. I hope it will be longer than most people think,” said the minister, whose country is the biggest producer in the OPEC oil cartel…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries needs the cooperation of Russia to help improve oil market stability and increase low crude prices, Iran’s Opec governor was quoted as saying.

The comment reflects concern among some Opec countries that the impact of their production quotas — aimed at supporting the oil price — is undermined by non-Opec producers, which do not curb their output in the same way…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From ISNA: Iran is making efforts to host an Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in 2011, said Iranian OPEC Governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi. “We hope to convince OPEC members to hold an OPEC meeting in Iran in 2011,” he said.

Iran is to declare its readiness to host a meeting in the oil cartel next meeting to be held in Equator on December 11, he said adding, “we hope we can convince OPEC member states.”……………………………………Full Article: Source

From Kippreport.com: Qatar’s energy minister said on Monday it was difficult to predict what OPEC would decide on its oil output policy in 2011 because of the uncertainty surrounding the global economy. “It is very difficult to predict what we should do next year (on output policy),” Abdullah al-Attiyah told Reuters in Singapore before attending an industry conference. “We have to watch the market very carefully.”

“Now it is still pretty gloomy because the world economy is still not clear, so it is very difficult to predict.”……………………………………Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: The price of carbon dioxide must rise to $175 a metric ton in order to halve global emissions by 2050, the head of the International Energy Agency said.

The European emissions trading program, the world’s largest carbon market, isn’t providing a reliable guide on the cost of pollution to promote more investment in renewable energy and other emission-cutting technologies, Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the Paris-based agency, said in an interview in Singapore today…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Seekingalpha.com: Copper has been in the news for all the right reasons from an investment point of view. Supply shortages have been a major factor behind the surge in copper prices due to a combination of falling ore grades in major producing nations, labor problems and project delays.
Copper prices had however fallen last week Tuesday after the rise of the US dollar, retreating from a 27-month peak hit earlier in the session and tracking choppy currency trading ahead of a key Federal Reserve meeting next week but with the launch of new physically backed exchange-traded products [ETPs] the copper market has been generating a lot of speculation about their effect on prices and demand…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: Federal regulators and aggrieved investors face an uphill battle to prove allegations that two of the biggest silver trading firms are manipulating the market, if history is any guide.

On Wednesday, JPMorgan Chase & Co and HSBC Holdings Plc were hit by two complaints from traders accusing the banks of conspiring to drive down silver prices. They claimed that the firms reaped up to hundreds of millions of dollars of illegal profits…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Resourceinvestor.com: The pressure on silver shorts has been relentlessly increasing on a daily basis. On the heels of CFTC’s statement of intention to actually enforce antitrust regulations in the silver market, two lawsuits were filed against JPM and HSBC for manipulating the silver price.
With the testimony of whistleblower Andrew Maguire and admission that there has been fraudulent activity in the silver market by CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton, these lawsuits have a much larger chance of success than just a year ago…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Ibtimes.com: The gold price recently made a new high amid widespread concern over weakness in the U.S. dollar. The gold rally has been driven by strong global demand among investors seeking a safe haven. Demand has been driven mainly by uncertainty over the economic outlook, as investors continue to recover from the fallout of the financial crisis two years ago.

Many investors believe gold is a crisis hedge and attribute its recent rally to the widespread belief that the financial crisis persists. If nothing else, the credit crisis of 2008 should have dispelled the myth that gold is the “ultimate crisis hedge,” as it was dumped along with everything else in the rush to achieve liquidity two years ago…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Hardassetsinvestor.com: When we last covered the fundamentals of gold supply and demand back in August, we commented that “the third quarter is traditionally (minus 2009) a good one for gold demand … Perhaps higher demand—and higher prices—lie ahead.”

For the moment, all evidence points to that trend continuing (albeit at a modest pace). In the third quarter, spot gold rose from $1,242/oz to $1,308. Since then, in just a month, gold has gone up another 4.7 percent to hit a high of $1,369/oz—although prices have since eased off a bit, the rise still suggests an acceleration of demand…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Investorplace.com: PowerShares DB Precious Metals ETF — This exchange-traded fund (ETF) seeks to track the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index – Optimum Yield Precious Metals Excess Return. This is a rules-based index composed of futures contracts on gold and silver.

Like the precious metals and the index it is intended to reflect, DBP has been in a powerful advance…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Etftrends.com: We have all heard about how gold is hitting record highs, but other commodities, along with their exchange traded funds (ETFs), are posting higher gains so far this year.

Year-to-date, gold is up 21.91% while coffee is up 48.29%, silver is up 42.14% and corn is up 28.93%, according to Bespoke Invest. Oil slightly increased 4.08%, but natural gas plummeted 39.75%. Most commodities are trading at their upper ranges, with precious metals, coffee and copper nearing overbought territory, says Bespoke Invest……………………………………Full Article: Source

From Indiatimes.com: Global fund flows into emerging market equity and bond funds slowed significantly during the fourth week of October, ahead of America’s mid-term elections and Fed meeting.

According to data compiled by international fund tracking firm EPFR, emerging market equity and bond funds took in $2.68 billion and $710 million, respectively, for the week ending October 27, about half the previous week’s figures…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Intercontinental Exchange Inc., the second-largest U.S. futures market, said third-quarter profit rose 10 percent as trading in European energy contracts and U.S. soft commodities surged, leading to record volumes in September.

Net income climbed to $96.3 million, or $1.29 a share, from $87.5 million, or $1.18, a year earlier, the Atlanta-based company said today in a statement distributed by PR Newswire…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: China’s trade ministry said prolonged dollar weakness could escalate actions taken in a “currency war” and add to risks for exporters.

“The continued and drastic U.S. dollar depreciation recently has led countries including Japan, South Korea and Thailand to intervene in the currency market, intensifying a ‘currency war’,” the Ministry of Commerce said in a trade outlook report posted on its website today…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Guardian: It’s easy to see why some policymakers hope favourable exchange rates could put America’s economy back on track.Amid growing fears of a Japanese-style malaise, the other options are either off the table or likely to be ineffective.
Political gridlock and soaring debt have stymied an effective second stimulus, and monetary policy has not reignited investment. But weakening the dollar to boost exports is a risky strategy – it could result in exchange rate volatility and protectionism; worse, it invites a response from competitors. In this fragile global economic environment, a currency war will make everybody a loser…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Investorschronicle.co.uk: Over the past few weeks concern has been growing about a so-called ‘currency war’. The main protagonists seem to be China, resisting calls to allow its currency to strengthen, and the US which fears its economic prospects will be disadvantaged by cheap Chinese imports damaging US production and jobs.
The other participants in this ‘war’ seem to be mainly in the emerging markets. Thailand, Korea and Brazil, for example, are among the countries who have intervened to keep the strength of their currencies in check. To date this has been a largely academic debate, but could this damage the returns from emerging markets funds?……………………………………Full Article: Source

From Theglobeandmail.com: The South Korean government is pulling out all the stops for the meeting of Group of 20 leaders on Nov. 11-12. It’s a tremendously important meeting to Seoul, affirming the country’s developing role as an important player in global economic and financial affairs.

That’s why school kids are suddenly studying economics and why massive video billboards have been set up in the heart of Seoul to encourage citizens to be on their best behaviour…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Investorplace.com: If asked which commodity is up the most this year, the average person would probably answer gold, since it is in the news so much. But the real money in the Chicago commodity trading pits has been made in the opposite of hard assets — little white fluff balls.

Cotton, by the way, is up so much I expect the department stores to start putting dress shirts under lock and key. We might start hearing stories like the ones about copper a year ago, when crooks were stealing plumbing fixtures and selling them for scrap……………………………………Full Article: Source

From Seekingalpha.com: Gold is grabbing the headlines setting daily record highs. Silver is setting an-even-more-torrid pace. Wheat and coffee - American breakfast table staples - are surging due to bad weather around the world.

But there’s another commodity that’s up big: It’s surged as much as 55% in the last 12 months to reach its highest price level in 15 years. And there’s plenty more to come: Global demand far outstrips supply, creating an imbalance that won’t be solved anytime soon. I’m talking about cotton, the “new” king of the commodities sector…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Barrons.com: The prices of such commodities as corn, cotton and crude oil are on the move higher. And the broad-based measure of commodities, the Reuters CRB index, has reached its highest level since July 2008.

In other words, commodities prices are closing in on levels that many called a speculative frenzy two years ago, but today such sentiment is nowhere to be found. Hard assets are clearly in demand…………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Commodities-now.com: A warning by an International Energy Agency (IEA) analyst last week that quantitative easing (QE) risked inflating nominal commodity prices and derailing the recovery drew a withering response from Nobel Economics Laureate Paul Krugman, who labelled the unfortunate analyst the “worst economist in the world”.

According to New York Times columnist Krugman “Higher commodity prices will hurt the recovery only if they rise in real terms. And they’ll only rise in real terms if QE succeeds in raising real demand. And this will happen only if, yes, QE2 is successful in helping economic recovery”…………………………………….Full Article: Source