Tag Archives: commodities

Another month, another OPEC meeting beckons for 2nd June. But unlike typical meetings on the Danube (let alone dust filled haze of Doha), the producer group might just have a new King in town. It comes in the form of Russia; the number one global producer that’s not even technically a member of the cartel. Confused? Don’t be. The argument is quite simple. Irianian and Russian Crude/Condensate Production Iranian and Russian Crude/Condensate Production – click to enlarge. Unlike...

  Pros and Cons The original Bethlehem Steel Works in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Photo via leggendaurbana.it The recent rally in commodity prices has surprised many market participants and has greatly supported the stock market’s rebound. It has also made bulls out of a number of former stock market bears, as one of its side effects was to cause an improvement in market internals. But does the rally actually make sense? As always, there are arguments both for and against the idea. We...

The CRB Index is building on last Friday's gains, when it gapped higher.  That gap marked the end of the down move we anticipated on March 28.   The index fell through the two supports we identified (171.30 and 169.50), before bottoming on April 4 near 164.70. We had thought that a three-legged correction off the January 20 low was complete.  However, the recent price action suggest that a five-wave move is more likely. First, the gap higher last Friday has not been filled.  It leaves a...

Bawerk shows that more than 3 mb/d of American oil production was helped by US$55.5bn in credit facilities, by excessive debt. This production is now at risk and the debt may not be repaid. The big OPEC players are playing against US shale oil and some smaller OPEC members that have higher costs. Another month, another flight to Hamad international airport for 17th April after initial agreement to hold ‘upstream horses’ in February 2016. While it’s no doubt great fun getting back...

This Great Graphic, created on Bloomberg, depicts the CRB Index, a basket of commodity prices.   The technical picture has deteriorated, and the price action in the coming sessions is particularly important in determining outlook.   The CRB Index put in a double bottom.  On January 20 and February 11 lows were set just below 155.00.   The neckline of the double bottom was created in the rally between the two bottoms.  It is found near 168.00.   The measuring objective is found by...

Iranian elections have supposedly put a very nice ‘moderate’ spin on Iranian politics in parliamentary ranks, and more importantly, Assembly of Experts composition. While it would be churlish to deny, it represents a significant step forward for President Rouhani’s agenda to 2017, albeit a number of vital caveats remain for how real any political shift actually is. We’ll do the Parliament first, and then move onto the Assembly second. With a ‘grand finale’ of what it means for Iranian...

Things are turning increasingly ugly in Venezuela between President Maduro and the opposition MUD. The core political problem after December 2015 elections is the PSUV are now using the courts to neuter any opposition voices that formally hold a legislative majority to start holding the government to account. Right on cue, Mr. Maduro just railed a decree through the Supreme Court (TSJ) giving him total control over budgetary measures, utilize any property, suspect constitutional rights...

Things are turning increasingly ugly in Venezuela between President Maduro and the opposition MUD. The core political problem after December 2015 elections is the PSUV are now using the courts to neuter any opposition voices that formally hold a legislative majority to start holding the government to account. Right on cue, Mr. Maduro just railed a decree through the Supreme Court (TSJ) giving him total control over budgetary measures, utilize any property, suspect constitutional rights...

Published: 12th February 2016 Download issue: A turbulent start to a volatile year Global markets had a very difficult start to 2016, with equity markets experiencing one of the largest January falls in history, currency markets also seeing major disruption, and a sharp widening of spreads on high yield corporate bonds. By the end of the month, though, there were signs that a rebound was underway. Although the magnitude of the sell-off was clearly a concern, these developments are not out...

When looking at the current state of the Chinese economy it is important to note what happened leading up the ongoing predicament. By managing the USD/CNY exchange rate the Chinese factory worker was essentially funding excess consumption in the United States. One of the many perks enjoyed by global reserve issuer. The factory worker obviously did not do this out of his own volition; on the contrary, he was duped into it by swallowing the propaganda spewed out by party apparatchiks in...