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

China’s economy may be on track to grow at its slowest pace in a decade, but there’s a silver lining to this: lower commodity prices may actually benefit the U.S. and Europe, just when they most need it.
“The U.S. might not be in too bad a shape because it would benefit form cheaper commodity and oil prices,” Frederic Neumann, HSBC’s Co-Head of Asian Economic Research said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Commodity performance was mixed in April, despite improving macroeconomic backdrop. Nelson Louie, Global Head of Commodities in Credit Suisse’s Asset Management division, said, “Over the past month, concerns surrounding China have begun to lift and have been replaced with renewed anxieties over the outlook for Europe, as well as apprehensions that the US recovery is losing steam.
However, prospects for global growth this year may be significantly more positive than at this time last year. Leading economic indicators suggest we may be in store for more balanced growth between developed and emerging markets. Stronger than expected global growth would be especially supportive of economically sensitive commodities.” (Press Release)

Weakness is occurring across all the five broad commodity sectors during the current quarter with losses particularly heavy in the agriculture and energy sectors. As of this week, total returns on benchmark commodity indices are down year to date. Consequently, commodities are slipping further down the league table in terms of asset class returns.
This contrasts with events in the first quarter of the year when commodities were challenging equities to be the best performing asset class on a total returns basis………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Oil prices could double over the next decade with sweeping implications for the global economy, according to a report commissioned by the International Monetary Fund.
As oil prices remain at historically high levels of around $110 (£68) a barrel, the working paper warned a combination of rising demand and constrained supply could have major consequences………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said that tension between Iran and the West is likely to keep oil prices high despite a dramatic improvement in world supply and a big build in stocks.
The agency, which advises 28 industrialised nations on energy policy, said soaring global oil supply from the Orgaanisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, and the United States far outpaced global demand, curbed by poor economic activity in developed nations………………………………………..Full Article: Source

High oil prices are threatening the global economic recovery, the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency Maria van der Hoeven said on Monday.
Prices have eased a little and market fundamentals have improved in recent weeks, but concerns remain due to unplanned supply outages, international political tension over Iran and limited spare production capacity, she said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Oil fell to the lowest level in almost five months amid growing speculation that Greece may leave the euro currency union and as Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said prices should decline further.
Futures dropped 1.4 percent after Greece failed to agree on a unity government and European Union officials considered the country’s possible exit from the euro. Saudi Arabia wants crude prices lower than they are now, Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said yesterday in Adelaide, Australia. The kingdom is pumping at its highest rate in almost three decades, OPEC data show………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi said Saudi Arabia wants an oil price of around $100 a barrel and would like to see global inventories rise before demand picks up in the second half of the year.
“We want a price around $100, that’s what we want,” Al-Naimi told reporters in Australia. “A $100 price is great.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Iraq, seeking to more than double oil output by 2015, is poised to overtake Iran as OPEC’s second- largest producer by the end of the year as sanctions hobble crude production in its Persian Gulf neighbor, Bloomberg reported.
Iraq is pumping at the highest rate since Saddam Hussein seized power in 1979, supported by foreign investors such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP Plc (BP/) that are developing new fields and reworking older deposits………………………………………..Full Article:

Gold now trades at a low not seen since last December, and bears like Marc Faber have warned it will underperform over the months ahead. But Morgan Stanley is not so bearish and believes the precious metal could hit $2,175 an ounce in 2013.
The recent turmoil in markets has seen a number of investors flock to safe haven government bonds, with many viewing US treasuries are the only shield from the downturn………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Kate Middleton has taken her influence to a new height far beyond spiking the sales of pantyhose. She has now inspired European investors to convert their cash to gold.
Granted, the Duchess of Cambridge didn’t intend to spur people into buying up bullion. Nonetheless, the worth of the gold coin that commemorated her engagement to Prince William has risen by 70 percent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The price of gold and gold futures dropped yet again Monday morning, recording the seventh drop in nine trading days in May so far as industrial commodities, global stock markets and the Euro currency all sank amid Athens’ failure to negotiate a new coalition government.
Silver bullion also fell hard, touching $28.44 per ounce and losing 8.9% from the start of this month………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gold broke through the $1600/oz mark to eliminate gains for the year, as a fragile physical market alongside rising political uncertainty, exposed prices to the downside.
Although the base case is for Greece to remain within the EUR, the strength of the USD has further hindered gold as it behaves in line with risky assets and US Treasuries benefit instead………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Do you know the factors that affect gold prices in India? Other than basic jewellery demand, where India is the largest consumer, there are two other factors. Gold works on price parity, which means 10g of gold has the same value all over the world, hence international prices are important.
Other than for its ornamental purpose (globally jewellery demand accounts for 70-75% of overall gold demand), gold has traditionally been used as an investment asset to protect against political and economic uncertainty………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Lead is poised to rally after erasing this year’s gains with the market returning to shortages following a five-year glut as miners fail to keep pace with record demand for batteries.
Stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange dropped 9.3 percent from the all-time high reached in October. Demand will exceed supply by 150,000 metric tons next year, equal to about six months of U.S. mine production, Macquarie Group Ltd. estimates………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gold ETFs lost more than 1% on Monday along with bullion prices to fall into the red for 2012. SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) declined 1.3% in afternoon trade and touched a session low of $151 a share. It was the first time this year GLD has fallen below its 2011 closing price of $151.99 a share.
Gold prices are stuck under $1,600 an ounce and futures are trading at the lowest levels in over four months. Fears that Greece will leave the euro are driving investors to U.S. Treasury bonds and pushing the dollar higher………………………………………..Full Article: Source

There are many hazardous consequences due to the presence of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere. Some of these are ozone layer depletion, climate change, global warming and a rise in sea levels.
This has resulted in many global initiatives taking shape, in order to urge nations to cut down on their carbon emission levels………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Broad-based commodities investing shows the strains of this year’s market more than stocks in some cases. Take the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index. It set a fresh low since late 2010 this morning. Then there’s the PowerShares DB Commodity Index Fund (DBC), down 1% recently, which is about 5% from the same fate.
Oil, still a ways from 2010 levels, is showing plenty of wear. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE), down 1.4% recently, is back at late 2011 levels around $66………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is studying procedures for releasing crop reports as exchanges add trading hours for corn, soybeans, wheat, soybean meal, soybean oil, oats and rough rice, Secretary Tom Vilsack said.
CME Group Inc. (CME), owner of the world’s largest futures exchange and grain markets, plans to give traders access for 22 hours a day starting next week. The move will result in USDA releasing reports during trading hours. The department hasn’t decided whether to change its release schedule, Vilsack said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A reassuring Italian bond auction helped stem the euro’s slide Monday but currency traders remained wary of riskier bets such as the euro and the Australian dollar as the specter of a Greek euro-zone exit continued to haunt markets.
The euro remained below $1.29 against the dollar and was also under pressure against the likes of the yen and the pound as fears about a Greek euro exit intensified. Poor euro-zone industrial output data for March and a soggy Spanish Treasury Bill auction also undermined the common currency………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The European Commission has drawn up a list of 14 industrial sectors that will be eligible for special state aid to compensate for the increased cost of electricity due to the European Emission Trading System (ETS), according to a draft paper seen by EurActiv.
“Our final decision will come in the coming two weeks,” EU Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia told a news conference in Brussels on 11 May………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A plan to introduce a greenhouse gas emissions trading program didn’t generate as much debate in Korea as in the U.S. and some other countries before it passed the parliament earlier this month.
But bipartisan support for the plan doesn’t guarantee a smooth glide toward its implementation, experts warned. Instead, a bitter debate may be just starting as the government moves to design its fine details, which may decide the country’s future efforts toward emissions reductions, they said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Germany, which will sell more European Union carbon allowances starting next year, intends to increase grants of free permits to 15 percent of its emitters in the bloc’s greenhouse-gas market.
About 311 of 2,012 installations will get more free allowances next year than in 2012, according to data from the federal environment agency Umweltbundesamt compiled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Palm oil slumped the most in more than 14 months on concerns that an escalating debt crisis in Europe and a deepening economic slowdown in China may curb demand for commodities.
July-delivery palm oil lost 3.8 percent, the most for the most active contract since Feb. 23, 2011, to end at 3,150 ringgit ($1,022) a metric ton on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange. That’s the lowest close since Feb. 10………………………………………..Full Article: Source