Commodities continued their losing streak amid a worsening of the European situation and no cues on another stimulus package.
Commodities slumped after data showed that trade in Germany contracted and Spain’s credit rating was lowered. Even the rate cut in China, the world’s largest commodity consumer, was not enough to improve sentiment………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Speculators reduced wagers on a rally in agricultural prices to a five-month low just as returns from crops and livestock beat most other commodities on concern that parched fields from Iowa to Russia will curb supply.
Hedge funds and other money managers cut net-long positions across 11 U.S. farm goods by 20 percent to 312,099 futures and options in the week ended June 5, the lowest since Dec. 27, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Chinas imports of key commodities in May confounded expectations of a fall, with crude oil shipments at a record high and both copper and iron ore imports unexpectedly rising more than 10 percent from a month ago, data showed on Sunday.
Still, analysts cautioned against drawing excessively optimistic conclusions, as actual demand from users remained weak and the bulk of oil and copper shipments in May was likely to have been moved into storage………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Fear that global economies are about to contract further has sent central bankers scrambling for a solution. To no one’s surprise, the central banks are going to figure out a way to loosen the money supply, thereby giving the economies a boost — or so they hope.
Support for the Bernanke plan is being organized by Janet Yellen, the Fed Vice Chair, and currently the San Francisco Fed President. Though now employed in California, Yellen is part of the ivy-league elites who have been at the center of U.S. economic policy for years………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The economy is on the threshold of a profound transformation as the long climb in commodity prices that has boosted incomes for most of the past decade goes into reverse.
Last week’s national accounts capture the change, with income per person falling for each of the last two quarters. Falling profits, also for the past two quarters, are part of the same story………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Benchmark oil prices may trade within a tight range this week as participants wait for the outcome of a repeat Greek election on June 17 and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting to decide production policy on Thursday in Vienna, according to CNBC’s weekly survey of oil market sentiment.
Out of a total of seven respondents, five - or nearly three-quarters - expect prices to remain steady, with a single bull and a single bear rounding off the survey………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Iran and other states are expected to press Saudi Arabia to scale back its record output when OPEC meets next week in Vienna, or face the risk of a new oil-price collapse. Much has changed since the group last met in December and managed to put aside its differences to agree to collectively produce 30 million barrels a day.
For one thing, oil prices in London have fallen below $100 a barrel as the world economic outlook has worsened. For another, world powers have raised the pressure on Iran’s nuclear program while urging Saudi Arabia to pump more oil to make up for any Iranian shortfall………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Former Iranian oil minister and current lawmaker Seyyed Masoud Mirkazemi says that there is high possibility for Iran’s representative to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to be elected as the next secretary general of the body.
Mirkazemi said, “Iran is still regarded as one of the most influential countries in OPEC and the candidate introduced by Iran has high chance of becoming the next secretary general.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Stuart Staniford has been watching the decline in oil prices. He has then commented that, given the Saudi need for income to hold off “Arab Spring” dissatisfaction, they are unlikely to let prices fall too far, before cutting production, since even a 10% reduction in output could raise prices 20%, thereby resolving possible income concerns.
This well reflects the role of the Texas Railroad Commission back when, which controlled US production in order to sustain an acceptable price for oil. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

China’s implied oil demand inched up 0.4 percent in May year-on-year, and rose marginally from April, when the figure fell for the first time in more than three years.
The world’s second-largest oil user burned about 9.344 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) last month, among the lowest rates since last October, Reuters calculations based on preliminary government data showed on Sunday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gold has been prized by every major culture since the dawn of civilization, dating back as far as 4000 B.C. in Central and Eastern Europe and in the Middle East. Throughout history, nations have fought wars over it and, unfortunately, civilizations have worshiped it. Today, almost every country continues to have some form of gold coins in circulation.
The other side of the coin (pun intended) is that gold is one of the most hyped commodities today. You cannot go a day without some type of ad pumping gold as the true hedge against raging inflation. ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Gold-investment demand in China may gain more than 10 percent this year as buyers seek a haven from Europe’s debt crisis and the prospect of weakening currencies, according to the country’s largest bullion bank.
“Investors here want to hold part of their assets in gold to hedge for the risks, especially now that the financial crisis has evolved into a sovereign crisis,” Zheng Zhiguang, general manager of the precious-metals department at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

“What country today, besides the United States, could transition to a gold standard system The technical answer is: any of them. However, that is not what she meant. What she meant is: what country could do so, without causing unacceptable levels of economic turmoil?
That is a more difficult question. The basic problem facing a country like Nicaragua, Pakistan, Cambodia — or China — is that the major international currencies, such as the dollar, euro, pound and yen, are highly variable compared to gold………………………………………..Full Article: Source

If Comex August gold prices can close over $1,580 an ounce and the yellow metal prices might trend higher next week, said Charles Nedoss, senior market strategist at Olympus Futures.
Nedoss continued that, the 20-day moving average lies around that region, specifically at $1,580.50, based on technical-chart analysis………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Now let me touch on the short term price action. I’ve been very clear in my daily posts when speaking about silver, but to reiterate: as long as silver futures stay above $28/ounce I remain friendly.
On the upside, once prices clear $29.50 I’m anticipating a trade closer to $32. I like the idea of futures for those with the capital and stomach. Also I’ve devised an options strategy that I think is perfect for those that are fairly bullish out until the end of the year thinking we have little downside………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The mining industry is cyclical, so after a boom there will be a bust. But are investors pricing in the end of the cycle too early?
Not only are there fears of a slowdown in China hitting demand for commodities, but fears over what Dominic O’Kane, a mining analyst at broker Liberum, calls “capital incontinence” are growing………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Exchange Traded Funds, or ETFs, are a well-received innovation for online trading that hit Wall Street after the creation of mutual funds.
ETF trading has basically become an instant success overnight, allowing retail traders to buy futures, commodities, whole sectors, industries and even foreign markets as if they were stocks. The ETF has empowered retail traders/investors to take control and be exposed to risk in areas that they have not had access to in the recent past………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Investors streamed into energy and precious metals funds, gold in particular, as more than $1.1 billion in new investment capital flowed into commodity-related, exchanged-traded products this past week ending Thursday.
As has been the case for two weeks now, energy funds attracted the most inflows in the assets class, this time with $797 million in new capital. Precious metals followed, with $519 million. Those healthy inflows offset the other sectors that saw net outflows………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM), Japan’s largest commodity futures exchange, will accept the transfer of soybeans, azuki, corn and raw sugar contracts from the Tokyo Grain Exchange (TGE). The decision was made at the board of directors meeting on May 30.
TOCOM said it plans to launch an agricultural market in February 2013 and will manage the processing of open positions and orders remaining on the TGE market………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The safe-haven appeal of Asian markets will ensure currencies in the region end 2012 stronger than they are now, despite the sizeable risks from Europe’s debt crisis and weaker global demand, a Reuters poll showed.
The poll of 74 participants, mostly strategists and economists, cited the extreme oversold positions in the Asian currencies as an additional reason for optimism, besides regular factors such as the attractive valuations and stronger regional balance-sheets………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has hailed a decision by eurozone finance ministers to help Spain shore up its struggling banks as a victory for the European common currency.
“It was the credibility of the euro that won,” he told reporters. On Saturday, the eurozone ministers agreed to lend Madrid up to 100bn euros ($125bn; £80bn) to help banks hit by bad property loans………………………………………..Full Article: Source

South Korea’s major business organizations called on the government Sunday to ensure that a law on carbon trading be implemented without hurting the country’s industrial competitiveness.
The call comes as the parliament passed the law in early May to begin trading of domestic credits on carbon dioxide emissions from 2015. The government is currently working on a decree to enforce the law………………………………………..Full Article: Source