Time was, fund investors who wanted to bet on commodities had only a few, simple products to choose from: mutual funds and exchange-traded products that tracked price moves of an unchanging basket of basic goods, such as oil, corn and copper. And that was about it.
But in the past year or two, new products have flooded the market with often-untested innovations that aim to beat—not just match—returns of well-known commodities indexes………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Commodities fell, capping the biggest weekly decline since mid-January, as easing tensions in the Middle East sent oil lower and a stronger dollar eroded the appeal of raw materials.
The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 commodity futures dropped 1.2% to settle at 704.37 at 4 pm in New York, led by declines in silver, energy products and cotton. The gauge fell 1.6% for the week, the biggest slump since the five days ended January 13………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Speculators increased bets on higher agricultural prices to a five-month high on mounting concern that a South American drought will curb supplies of soybeans, corn and sugar at a time of record global demand.
A measure of speculative positions across 11 farm goods jumped 26 percent to 607,721 futures and options in the week ended Feb. 28, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Corn bets increased the most in eight weeks, and sugar holdings climbed to the highest since August. Wagers on higher soybean prices rose to a five-month high………………………………………..Full Article: Source

According to ECLAC, a decade of economic growth, on average, has helped lift 56 million Latin Americans into the middle class since 1999. However, some economists worry that a decline in demand for commodities, which have risen from 27 percent to 39 percent of exports over the past decade, could reverse those gains.
What effect would a decrease in commodities prices have on the region? Will the newly emergent middle class slide back into poverty, or are the gains sustainable? Has deindustrialization become an urgent policy concern for some Latin American countries?……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The US Energy Dept’s 29 February report on world oil market trends carried baleful news for the gung-ho fraternity who want to bomb Iran’s nuclear installations.
The report outlined that OPEC spare oil production capacity dropped 33% in the first two months of this year compared with same period of 2011. The 12 OPEC member states had an average 2.5 million barrels a day spare capacity during January and February, down from 3.7 Mbd a year earlier………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Chatham House says OPEC may be heading for a Shia-Sunni split, but it appears to have discounted the group’s enduring powers and its resilience despite wars and severe disputes between member states.
OPEC may face a Shia-Sunni split if the political climate in the region and crude prices deteriorate, according to London-based Chatham House. Social media and the Iranian state news channel reported that an explosion destroyed a pipeline in the restive eastern Saudi Arabia, near the Ras Tanura refinery but was denied by the Interior Ministry………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Trying to get oil experts to agree on the cause of soaring oil prices is about as easy these days as trying to pump a single penny’s worth of gas to even out your purchase.
As the proud owner of a ‘96 Saturn with a salvage title, I’ve become acutely aware in recent weeks that the value of the gas in my vehicle far outpaces the vehicle itself. On Friday, it averaged $3.76 a gallon, 38 cents higher than a year before………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The globe’s energy elite is gearing up for its own version of Davos—sans the skiing. Starting Monday, some of the world’s top energy officials and executives will gather at IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates’ annual CERA Week conference in Houston.
The conference, which provides a barometer of the industry, comes at a critical time. Fears that Iran may disrupt crude supplies have pushed global oil future prices to 10-month highs………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Global oversupply of thermal coal will continue to dominate the sector in the short term, despite net importers China and India remaining the main demand centers for the fossil fuel, a Deutsche Bank analyst said.
Speaking at the Coaltrans Coal Pricing and Trading conference in Geneva, Michael Hsueh, commodities analyst at Deutsche Bank said that on balance, “we think that global markets will either enter or maintain oversupply through the coming years and that affects our price outlook.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

To talk bullish on gold looks like a risky proposition at the moment — last Wednesday, gold saw one of the most brutal routs in a year when it tumbled five percent. It indeed recovered 1.5 percent the next day, broadly symbolizing the roller-coaster ride of bullion in recent times.
The latest gold sell-off was sparked by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke’s suggestion that another round of monetary easing, or Quantitative Easing-3, was not on the cards………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gold will see a bull run this year with price steadily moving upwards in each quarter and crossing $2,000/oz threshold in the fourth quarter of 2012, say analysts.
The number of analysts predicting the price to cross $2,000/oz are increasing, insisting on the strong upside potential for the yellow metal mainly due to quantitative easing (QE) measures by the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Comex gold futures ended mildly higher on Friday notching its biggest weekly decline this year and vulnerable to further falls. Gold futures tanked after the US Federal Reserve Chairman, Mr Ben Bernanke, did not signal another round of monetary easing was imminent, sparking a 5 per cent sell-off on Wednesday.
Gold, however, started the week with a rally to a 3-1/2 month high on economic uncertainty after the European Central Bank gave half a trillion euros of cheap loans to banks………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Silver price volatility provides some exciting profit opportunities for investors who develop the right strategies to take advantage of the action.
I view gold and silver as monetary instruments, at least at this stage, although silver has a great degree of industrial uses. I also think that we probably will see a new high in both gold and silver this year. For silver, that would be over $50/oz and for gold that would be somewhere in the $1,800-1,900/oz range………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The zinc market was characterised by another year of surplus in 2011, leading to reported inventories rising by almost a quarter. As a result, zinc lived up to expectations for it to be an under-performer, and the outlook for fundamentals in 2012 suggests that it will continue to under-perform.
Production is expected to grow strongly this year and, as a result, the market will likely remain in surplus. Indeed, there will be new highs for zinc inventories in 2012, making for a soft outlook for prices, especially in the first half of the year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Supply of copper will not be able to match demand this year, partly because of the appetite for the metal in emerging markets.
According to The Copper Market Review by research company Merchant Research & Consulting, China’s economic boom will result in the copper market witnessing a “vast deficit of the material worldwide, which has already demonstrated some traits at the end of 2011. The copper output at the global level is out of the scope to meet the expanding demand from emerging economies.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Copper prices have been rising steadily this year, and the trend shows no sign of ending as demand continues to be firm while supply fears grow.
Kazakhmys, Kazakhstan’s largest copper producer, said sales from continuing operations jumped 10 per cent last year as copper prices advanced………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Palladium is likely to outperform platinum in the next few years as dwindling supply and demand for palladium will increase, said a mining analyst at a metals consultancy. Russian palladium supplies are likely exhausted, said William Tankard, senior mining analyst at Thomson Reuters GFMS.
As vehicle sales rise, demand for autocatalysts will increase and cheaper-priced palladium should continue to take market share from platinum. Those are two reasons that palladium will outperform platinum in the coming years, Tankard said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Charting the rise of the ETF may be interesting fodder for industry-watchers, but for investors the more pertinent questions may be: how, when, and why should I use an ETF? Should ETFs replace other holdings in my portfolio? How do I compare ETFs? What details should I know before diving in?
Morningstar.co.uk’s ETF Investing Week aims to bring clarity to this fast-growing investment vehicle with a focus not only on what it is, but also what it does–and how ETFs may be used as both a building block in a strategic portfolio and as a key instrument in the tactical investor’s toolbox………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gold exchange traded funds took a hit this week after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy is sending mixed signals. His comments tempered speculation that more quantitative easing from the central bank is imminent.
Gold prices and ETFs such as SPDR Gold Trust fell sharply on Wednesday but the metal held at $1,700 an ounce. The largest gold ETF saw one of the biggest one-day losses since late September 2011………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Exchange traded product (ETP) trading activity in Europe has started to slow after investors made a strong commitment in January. The European ETP market reported a sharp decline in assets under management (AUM) in December, when €2.5 billion (£2.1 billion) was pulled out by investors.
As a more risk-on environment presented itself, this situation reversed at the start of the year and inflows of €2.3 billion were recorded during January………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Income-oriented investors are caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one side, the Federal Reserve is keeping Treasury bond yields artificially low. On the other, dividend stocks offer tempting payouts but with painful ups and downs in price. What to do?
We asked four advisory firms that build portfolios of exchange-traded funds for their picks for a traditional income-oriented investor. Three companies suggested portfolios heavy on bond funds—no surprise—but with some significant differences in their allocations to certain fixed-income sectors………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The effectiveness of an EU embargo on Iranian oil imports has been cast into doubt by growing evidence of a rise in shipments from the Islamic republic arriving in the Mediterranean.
The apparent surge comes even though tough sanctions are supposed to be stemming the flow. The latest shipment data show that most oil loaded on to tankers in Iran during the first two weeks of February was bound for Ain Sukhna in Egypt………………………………………..Full Article: Source

After a record-breaking investor demand in the Initial Public Offer (IPO) of its shares, the country’s largest commodity exchange MCX may get listed in the stock market this week, possibly on March 9.
Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX), which is set to become the country’s first bourse to get listed, is planning to allot shares to successful IPO bidders by the middle of this week, pursuant to which it plans to list on the BSE, sources said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Myanmar is nearing a decision to dismantle its fixed exchange rate, which risked holding back trade and investment as the country seeks economic ties with western nations after five decades of military rule.
Authorities will soon announce a shift to a managed float of the kyat, and seek to keep it from rising beyond the informal rate of about 800 per dollar, a person familiar with the discussions said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Canada’s dollar strengthened the most since January versus its U.S. counterpart on speculation accelerating global growth will boost the nation’s exports, bolstering the case for interest-rate increases.
The Canadian currency was the best performer this week against 14 of its 16 most-traded counterparts as the price of crude oil, the country’s biggest export, touched the highest level since 2008………………………………………..Full Article: Source

I couldn’t help but notice a new ad on Yahoo! Mail from Fidelity Investments that boldly asks, “Are you ready for water to become a globally traded commodity?” Given the world’s economic climate, geopolitical issues, and the planet’s track record with oil, I personally would say, “No, I am not ready for water to become a globally traded commodity.”
I don’t want to even imagine living in a society where grocery stores advertise the price per gallon of water on big signs by the side of the road that you can see from the highway…………………………………………Full Article: Source