FCStone Morning Weather ReportOil Falls, Extending Two-Week Drop on Europe Debt, China
Oil rose, recovering earlier losses, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said accommodative policy is needed to lower unemployment.
West Texas Intermediate futures advanced as much as 0.4 percent, having earlier declined by 0.6 percent. The dollar weakened after Bernanke’s comments, made in a speech today in Arlington, Virginia, making commodities more attractive for protecting against inflation. The decline in U.S. unemployment to 8.3 percent may reflect “a reversal of the unusually large layoffs that occurred during late 2008 and over 2009,” the Fed chairman said. Click here to read full report.
Source: Bloomberg
Hedge Funds Make Wrong-Way Bets for a Fourth Week
Hedge funds wagered the wrong way on commodity prices for a fourth consecutive week, boosting bullish holdings just before reports showing a contraction in manufacturing from China to Europe drove prices lower.
Money managers lifted net-long positions in 18 U.S. futures and options by 2.9 percent to 1.17 million contracts in the week ended March 20, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials dropped 1 percent last week, led by declines in lead and corn. Orange juice tumbled 11 percent, the most since August. Click here to read full article.
Source: Bloomberg
Going Granular – March 26, 2012
Morning Round Up (3/26/2012)
Bloomberg
The good news: China’s government will engineer a soft landing. The bad news: Even a soft landing is painful for industries that have become dependent on the world’s fastest-growing major economy as their main profit engine. Analysts at Deutsche Bank AG, Nomura Holdings Inc. and Daiwa Capital Markets raised forecasts this month for 2012 expansion to as high as 8.6 percent, partly on anticipation of looser monetary policy. China Soft Landing May Be Hard for Commodity Exporters
Farm Futures
Futures could see a mixed open this morning, with choppy trade possible as the market gets ready for Friday’s big grain stocks and planting intentions reports from USDA. Corn tries for a steady open today, with traders mulling whether lower March 1 old crop inventories will be enough to offset ideas farmers are gearing up for a big increase in seedings this spring. Morning Call by Bryce Knorr
Morning Gold Fix – March 26, 2012
Market Recap:
April Gold rebounded from fresh monthly lows on Thursday, eking out marginal gains ($6.60) for the week. Bullion seemed to be responding to a stronger Euro, and disappointing U.S. new Home Sales (down 1.6% from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 313,000). Gold’s appeal as an inflationary hedge may also be growing after a series of worse-than-expected economic data from around the globe.
