Investing in copper is becoming a very popular trend for those looking to diversify into new metals other than precious metals.
There are a multitude of reasons one might chose to begin investing in copper, so we’ll break down the pros, cons, and the methods for buying copper as an investment.
Who knew that water could be as valuable as it is. Most of us wake up each morning, take a shower (which consumes gallons of water), brush our teeth (which takes at least a gallon or two) and then go about our day.
The rest of the day consumes plenty of water resources, as well. Washing clothes, our cars, dishes, and even going to the bathroom creates a serious drain on our world’s natural resources. Even though water is a renewable resource, turning dirty water into clean water (and thus making it more valuable) is a very profitable business.
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With the US financial markets worried about several key economic matters—oil price, OPEC decision, Fed policy, and whether or not the debt ceiling will be raised—there seems to be a new trade emerging: buy puts.
In recent days, put activity on the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) has been through the roof. A full hour after market open, investors have taken an interest in September dated options. Of the most popular are the 90, 94, and $95 strikes. These strike prices correspond with an S&P500 value of 900, 940, and 950, respectively.
So just how high will gas prices go before they retreat? At the time of writing, the price of a barrel of oil has surged from >$40 in 2009 to $111 in 2011, but where will the final resting place be? We’ll break down oil’s rise, and give a 2011 projection below.
There’s plenty of talk around the world about the future for currency. Some say it should be gold, some say silver, and even fewer say that the next money should be privately minted by individual people, persons, and mints. But most who want an alternative to the greenback are in the market for something backed by a commodity.
In a recent post we uncovered the effects of high gas prices on economic growth, but it is also important to understand everything that the market has priced into oil. We’ll dissect oil’s pricetag, and seek to find what makes investors so bullish on higher prices for oil now and in the future.
Insanity! As Libya continues to riot for freedom, a barrel of oil is rising quickly toward the psychologically important $100 a barrel mark. In fact, just today the price rose beyond $100 per barrel before sellers were confident enough to take short term profits.
While the world focuses on the United States and Europe, two areas that have seen massive bailouts and easing in their own right, investors might be better instead to focus that attention elsewhere—China.
There seems to be a surge of new ethical concerns in medicine that I have either turned a blind eye to, or that have only recently become popular and that I have not noticed. These new ethical issues tend to center around the pressing political issue of what is the best way to distribute medical care?
Should we distribute medical care via the price system, where the highest bidder gets the care?
I wanted to take a blog post to talk about cyclical commodities. The markets as a whole are really very cyclical; we have recession then recovery then recession. But the market also demands different goods throughout this cycle. Think of a wave between another wave. Read more…
A combination of cheap credit and volatile markets is paving the way for rampant investment in virtually everything, from stocks to futures. This trade, part of a play on negative real interest rates, is one of the biggest effects from quantitative easing. Read more…
As we all know, precious metals have been on a roll. With gold and silver moving like nobodies business, I’m going to take a few moments to discuss reasons why they’re moving so quickly. Read more…
Its been awhile since I’ve posted some technicals of the major indices. I’m taking a glance at the Dow futures right now while the Asian market is trading down more than 4%, and it looks like our bull market run is over. There’s some interesting chart patterns forming, though, in both the price action and the RSI. Read more…
Oil has dropped like a rock and is out of the discussion for this article. The market still needs to settle out the speculation and digest much of the speculative supply that is rushing into the markets. Other commodities such as silver are now on the radar with a rapidly expanding money supply and a heavily deflated price per ounce. Read more…
Commodities prices have been beaten as of late due to the problems with the economy. As the world economy shrinks and minor deflation occurs, commodities prices will drop across the board. This sudden and sharp drop will not last forever largely due to the $700 Billion bailout and how it will affect the money supply going forward. Read more…
The Saudi King announced today a $400 Billion investment in the government run oil industry in hopes of restarting the economy during economic recession. Investors around the world should like this infusion of cash that will do much to improve economic vitality in the Middle East and should keep oil prices low for years to come. Read more…
Commodities have been pounded over the last few months. The ride up was attributed to inflation, and now that they’re falling off a cliff there is nothing fundamental to propel such a move. Today the commodities market is rallying a bit on lower oil supplies and the metals are coming back from their lows. If anything, the commodities market should be in a complete bull market run due to their resilience to inflation. Read more…
So often we hear that traders are pushing up prices on a variety of things, be it oil or food or anything else that has us so sticker shocked. Traders reacted quickly when news of Gustav’s approach of the Gulf Coastline and traders, apparently, priced in a result that could only happen from Katrina-esque circumstances. Read more…
It was only a matter of time before oil touched its strong support near the $110 level and rebounded quickly. Stock traders were taken off guard as the commodity jumped $5 per barrel on tensions between Russia and Georgia and capitalizing traders pushed prices higher. If oil prices continue this what seems like never ending climb, the stock market is due for a tailspin. With the Dow rushing towards 11700 on what seemed like thin news events, the oil market is livening up and proving that it will be a player in today’s stock market. Read more…
A short term gain in the dollar which amounts to just a few percentage points has completely taken the floor under the commodity markets. Its ridiculous to think as the fundamentals that drove commodities higher exist at even greater levels. Gold and silver have fallen sharply which should add to the many reasons why investors should still favor these levels. Read more…
Since the beginning of June I’ve believed that oil prices would soon correct to the $110 area. The prior two weeks have told me that no high is high enough and that the price of oil will rage on through the fundamentals in Iran to the falling dollar. But as it was reported last month, the amount of short sellers is finally outnumbering the buyers. This should stand to say that oil companies may be actually shorting the price of oil to hedge themselves against falling prices. Through futures options and other strategies, oil companies are able to hedge their production amounts against current prices via options and still earn the same amount per barrel whether oil is $150 or $50. Read more…
Even with generous government subsidies and a growing market for ethanol and alcohol fuels, the profit margins for ethanol producers are their smallest ever. The possibility of profit has been wiped away by corn and natural gas prices. Natural gas is very important in the process and is where the majority of the energy input comes from. Read more…
If there is one great thing about today’s volatility it is the quicker developing trendlines that come with it. Highly volatile stocks are pushing trends quicker, rather than having a week to a month in between top and bottom support and resistance lines, its taking just a few days. Large movements up and down fill out trends quicker and with more accuracy, slower trending is more likely to push out of an existing trend while quick movements mean a contained trend. Read more…
The containers and storage products offered by Rubbermaid are sold by the billions. Without them, last weeks dinner would go straight to the trash and our pencils and pens would be without a container. It should come to no surprise that Rubbermaid is a great play against recession, its earnings are solid through sales of plastic containers and other products such as vacuum cleaners.
If anything is certain, its Rubbermaid’s bottomline which is something that can’t be said for most companies in today’s economic environment. At 11.5 times next years earnings, there happens to be a great bargain in the plastic products company. High energy prices may be cutting into its profits, but for the long term, this is a great brand to hold on to. Even better is that I’m looking for a 50% run in the next couple years. Read more…
News abound of a 300,000 increase in the daily production of crude oil by Saudi Arabia and the decision by Congress to cut supply of 70,000 barrels per day into the US strategic oil reserve certainly made a few people happy but the end result is literally and figuratively a drop in the bucket.
An increase in supply by 370,000 barrels a day will have little to no impact on the current price of oil for a variety of reasons. First and foremost is that many countries enjoy the ability to print money. Even better is that the United States can print US dollars to use immediately for oil, other countries have to exchange their home currency first for dollars then buy crude oil unless going through the few nations that accept other currencies. Second is that China’s growth has created a consumerist China, no doubt that the rising middle class can afford new luxuries including personal cars and other energy intensive products. Read more…
