Gold is back in the headlines – mainly due to the GOP platform calling for a commission to investigate bringing back the gold standard. However, the rising pace of investment fraud has also spurred a renewed focus on the con artists looking to fleece gold investors. Another good reminder to stay cautious out there…
Category: Markets
29
Aug
2012
28
Aug
2012
Keeping Tabs on Isaac
While Hurricane Isaac isn’t quite on the level of his predecessors Gustav and Katrina, this storm is still on track to sweep over a huge swath of US oil production and refining facilities. And that’s not to mention the human toll that a hurricane like this can bring, or the general economic impact of shutting down the Gulf. In light of all that, we decided to post a few essential links for keeping tabs on market-moving tropical weather.
27
Aug
2012
Storms Brewing for the Crack Spread?
With soon-to-be Hurricane Isaac on a collision course with the Gulf – and the oil refineries based there – fears of higher gas prices have emerged. Just how much can a big storm disrupt the gas/oil spread? We took a look back to find out.
22
Aug
2012
Happy Birthday, Bond Futures
Today marks an important anniversary in the world of futures trading, and for managed futures in particular. This is an occasion we’re happy to mark, because managed futures in particular owes the bond pits one heck of a birthday present.
22
Aug
2012
Platinum Market Heating Up
Not every market has bee quiet lately – platinum has put on an impressive spike in the last few days. It seems that an outbreak of violence has hampered mining operations – unfortunate circumstances that may be a significant sign for portfolio diversification moving forward.
15
Aug
2012
The August Doldrums
It’s been a strange couple of weeks. It has reminded us of one of those scenes in a horror movie when it gets just a little too quiet… Major markets are trading in a narrow range, volume is down all over the place, twitter’s all abuzz about the VIX falling below 15… just what is going on?
03
Aug
2012
Risk on/Risk Off Market Snapsot- July 2012
The risk on/risk of trade and the overall correlations in the futures markets influence how easy or difficult it is to stay diversified. With another month in the books, it’s time to take another look at how these conditions are playing out this year.
31
Jul
2012
Long-only Commodity ETFs vs. Futures- July 2012
It’s time for our monthly look at how the long-only commodity ETFs are performing versus simply holding the December futures contract and rolling annually. We’ve yet to receive a good answer to the question: why invest in an ETF when you can just roll December futures contracts annually?
27
Jul
2012
Crowning Market Volatility Champs?
A while back we took note of the recent larger moves in natural gas prices, wondering whether the commodity was reclaiming the title of “widowmaker.” But yesterday, looking at cocoa up over 4% at one point, it looked like natural gas might have some competition for the title. But we had to wonder: where do the markets stack up against one another in terms of volatility?
25
Jul
2012
QE Speculation v. The Markets
The market seemed to bounce back yesterday after Fed hints of a new round of quantitative easing, but how much does such speculation matter? We looked at whether increases in quantitative easing speculation was linked to changes to the movements of the stock market, and how durable those moves are.
