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Commodities to return: Rogers ‘The world’s food reserves are [low,] so higher prices will occur.’ April 21, 2009 Jim Rogers The global commodities market is about to make a comeback after years of price declines, which have devastated the food and metal markets around the world, according to billionaire American investor Jim Rogers. Rogers, in an e-mail interview with the JoongAng Ilbo from Singapore, where he has recently moved to teach his children Chinese, stressed now is time for investors to return to commodities, and warned them to stay away from U.S. currency. He emphasized that some of the world’s...

What’s coming next, from the ‘Man Who Saw It Coming’ Posted by Gwen Robinson on Feb 23 18:31. The litany of dire predictions for currencies, commodities and the global economy in general not only seems endless - it is getting more predictable by the day. That is because few pundits are making any waves - or money - out of playing Pollyanna, as everyone from Jim Rogers to Nouriel Roubini well know. While it’s an increasingly safe bet for analysts to leap on the gloom’n'doom bandwagon, there are a handful of analysts out there who get taken more seriously than...

Precious metals markets were quiet on Friday. That is, up until the last few minutes when that little line on Kitco's live gold chart went vertical for what amounted to about a $7 gain for gold. Citigroup's (C) report the other day will certainly add some fuel to the fire when it comes to the debate over the future of gold prices. They figure the yellow metal could rocket as high as $2,000 an ounce sometime within the next two years, possibly before the end of next year, as all the government stimulus money works its way into the system....

It may be a bizarre elixir for the current economic crisis, but Bloomberg Television has declared chocolate a potential cure. On Bloomberg’s Nov. 25 “In Focus,” Bloomberg News correspondent Su Keenan showed that cocoa commodities tend to do better in tough economic times “If you’ve been craving chocolate lately, you may not be alone,” Su Keenan said. “Analysts say worries about jobs and the recession have people desiring a little something sweet – like a Hershey’s kiss. And that can boost sales of candy bars and the cocoa that goes into making them.” ...more (w/video)...

The recent drop in oil and other commodity prices makes it almost a certainty that some unstable commodity-exporting nations will reach a crisis stage in the next few months. The only question is, which countries are likely to erupt first? The Middle East is always a safe bet for an explosion, but there is a very good chance the next eruption will be in Africa, with the most likely location being Congo, followed by Sudan. In Latin America, Argentina is headed for another debt default and financial meltdown, and Venezuela continues to rapidly deteriorate. And there is Russia, which is...

Gold rush (EXCLUSIVE) The mainland is seriously considering a plan to diversify more of its massive foreign-exchange reserves into gold, a person familiar with the situation told The Standard. Benjamin Scent Friday, November 14, 2008 The mainland is seriously considering a plan to diversify more of its massive foreign-exchange reserves into gold, a person familiar with the situation told The Standard. Beijing is considering changing its asset allocations during the financial tsunami in order to build up gold reserves "in a big way," the source said. China's fears about the long-term viability of parking most of its reserves in US...

Respected analyst Eric Fishwick says that China may be heading for a severe economic slowdown The bearish analysis suggests that it will be difficult for Chinese consumers to lift the country out of the slowdown as the economy is still largely focused on exports and commodities Leo Lewis, Asia Business Correspondent China must be radically reassessed by investors and could be lurching towards a more dramatic economic slowdown than Beijing authorities will admit, a CLSA report says. The grim assessment from Eric Fishwick, chief economist at CLSA, an Asia specialist private equity firm, argues that it will be impossible for...

Like nearly every other stock, commodity stocks have been dropping. But don't misinterpret that as lack of demand. Now would be the time to get in. That's right: Get IN. We're building the foundation for the next boom in commodity prices -- and commodity stocks. I can't give you any guarantee that commodity prices won't tumble further in the short term. In fact, I think that's very likely to happen as the U.S. economy slips into recession (possibly along with the economies of Japan and the European Union). But right now commodity stocks are factoring in huge declines in demand...

October 8, 2008 Why globalisation will yield to regional fiefdoms While we watch the drama of the global banking system slashing its own wrists, the real economy has just arrived at outpatients with headaches Carl Mortished: World Business Briefing While we watch the grotesque drama of the global banking system slashing its own wrists, the real economy has just arrived at outpatients with headaches. There is tummy upset in the West, while a mysterious rash has broken out in the East. In China, steelmakers are in deep trouble, the Olympics are over and the building sector, inflated by huge injections...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures surged more than $68 an ounce on Wednesday, the most since 1980, as news of the U.S. government's takeover of the biggest U.S. insurance company and worries about other financial institutions worldwide fueled massive safe-haven buying. Gold for December delivery was last up $63.90, or 8.2%, to $844.40 an ounce. It earlier jumped to $849.00, or as much as $69.50 an ounce. This would represent gold's biggest one-day jump in dollar terms since 1980, when the precious metal began trading on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Evaporating access to credit and fears of an economic washout are taking a toll on oil prices, forcing speculators using borrowed money out of the market. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s sudden bankruptcy filing and Merrill Lynch & Co.'s pending sale to Bank of America Corp. suggest big banks may be less willing or able to absorb debt to boost trading positions, with implications for the inherently leveraged oil-futures markets. Analysts believe that could have a ripple effect on other speculative investors in the market. Widespread liquidation of futures contracts compounded fears of faltering oil demand in knocking oil down near...

Commodities ravaged as traders flee risk Leo Lewis, Asia business correspondent Surging fears of Armageddon in the global financial system ravaged a wide selection of commodities across Asia as groups ranging from hedge funds to day traders spent the day in a headlong flight from risk. The shock waves from the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers reverberated through markets for vegetable oil, soy beans, rubber and industrial metals as confidence in the financial system faltered, global growth prospects dimmed and cash became king. Broad baskets of commodities — once seen by speculators as a sure-fire bet because of China and India’s...

It was said to be the year of speculators gone wild. Seemingly everyone in Washington, including Barack Obama and John McCain, decided that oil prices were soaring because profiteers and middlemen were manipulating the futures markets. "Speculators" were spotted everywhere this side of the grassy knoll. The only problem is that there's no evidence to support the conspiracy theories -- and sure enough, federal regulators dismantled this Beltway consensus late last week. In one of the broadest and most authoritative studies to date, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has offered hard statistical data that financial trading hasn't been driving price...

Gold futures ended at their lowest level in nearly 11 months Wednesday as the U.S. dollar strengthened, losing ground for an eighth straight session and tying a seven-year record for a string of losses. Gold for December delivery fell $29.50, or 3.7%, to $762.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest closing level since Oct. 24, 2007. Gold futures also dropped for eight straight sessions in August, the longest losing streak since May 2001. It ended August's trading down nearly $90, the biggest monthly loss ever in dollar terms. Sector sentiment is very...

Gold futures fell for a seventh straight session Tuesday, sliding to the lowest in nearly 10 months, as falling crude-oil prices reduced investment demand for gold as a hedge against inflation. Other metals contracts also felt selling pressure. Gold for December delivery sank $16.70, or 2.1%, to $785.80 an ounce ... In the energy market, crude futures fell more than $2 to below $105 a barrel

Hedge funds caught out as Hurricane Gustav fails to lift oil price Miles Costello Several hedge funds face big financial losses after wrongly predicting that oil and gas prices would rise as a result of Hurricane Gustav slamming into the Gulf coast of the US earlier this week. As Gustav swept towards New Orleans on Monday, catastrophe experts were predicting insured losses of up to $7 billion (£3.9 billion) as offshore oil rigs faced destruction and the storm threatened energy supplies. Commodities hedge funds saw the glum prediction as an opportunity, betting heavily, using the futures market, that prices would...

September is the cruellest month Gerard Baker: American View For financial markets, if not for poets, September is the cruellest month. It may only be curious coincidence, but the durability and reliability of the September Curse is striking. Since 1929, US stock prices have declined in September on average by more than in any other month - down by 1.2 per cent, compared with a gain of 0.6 per cent for all months of the year. And, in case you were wondering, that's not because the average of all those 80 Septembers has been driven lower by one or two...

The rising price of gold is prompting a return to Mojave's mining roots, as the Golden Queen Mining Co. prepares to resume mining operations on Soledad Mountain just southwest of the community. Company President Lutz Klingmann outlined the company's plan for the project before a packed house Thursday at the Mojave Chamber of Commerce's regular monthly meeting. "Mining has been going on in east Kern County since before the beginning of the last century," chamber Secretary Bill Deaver said in introducing Klingmann's presentation. The company has been working toward resuming mining on Soledad Mountain for the last seven years, re-engineering...

Big jump in gold sale spurs manipulation talk Some analysts say only manipulation is government's attempt to take down oil By Moming Zhou, MarketWatch Last update: 7:54 p.m. EDT Aug. 29, 2008 NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Recent heat from Congress and regulators, along with public speculation, over whether commodity prices are being manipulated has also reached gold pits, where the debate was stirred by a surge in bets last month that gold prices would fall. "Congress is already investigating allegations of manipulation in the oil market, and it seems likely that it is only a matter of time before a...

The commodity bull market has a long way to go. This bull market is not magic. It's not some crazy 'cycle theory' I have. It does not fall out of the sky. It's supply and demand. It's simple stuff. In the 80s and 90s, when people were calling you to buy mutual fund and stocks, no one called to say, "Let's invest in a sugar plantation." No one called and said, "Let's invest in a lead mine." Commodities were in a bear market and in bear markets people do not invest in a productive capacity. They never have. Perhaps they...