The Commodities Crash Accelerates: Scenarios for Trading Oil

Several authors have pointed out the difficulties in fashioning trades to take advantage of the movement in oil prices (for a recent example, see “Is Gasoline The Smart Oil Play? UGA Vs. USO“). Analyses counting off the bullish and bearish arguments on oil can fill many tomes. For example, there is fear of a drop … Read more

The Commodity Crash Accelerates: A New Juncture for Buying Gold

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on July 27, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) This month’s acceleration in the now 4-year sell-off in commodities seems to indicate that markets are getting serious about bracing for a tightening cycle from the Federal Reserve. I have mainly … Read more

Illinois Flood Disaster Does Not Prevent Corn from Rejoining the Collapse in Commodities

Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to declare a disaster in areas of the state hit hard by flooding. He should have asked for disaster relief on behalf of all the nation’s corn. Illinois was the nation’s #2 producer of corn in 2014, but the potential damage from on-going flooding in … Read more

The Bank of Canada Confirmed A Bearish Turn for the Canadian Dollar

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on July 24, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} In the middle of this fresh decline, the Bank of Canada delivered its July Monetary Policy Report with another rate cut included. The reaction in the currency market was just … Read more

A Weak GDP Report Sends the Canadian Dollar Above the 1.24 Pivot

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on June 8, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) Statistics Canada released its monthly GDP report for April as time counted down on Greece’s June 30th debt deadline. While the news from the report could not steal headlines, it was … Read more