Cliffs Natural Resources CEO Yearns for Iron Ore Collusion, uh, Cooperation

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 12, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) When I last wrote about the colorful CEO of Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF), Lourenco Goncalves, he was lambasting the Australians for manipulating their currency as a last desperate measure to save … Read more

While Cliffs Natural Resources Lashes Out, Rio Tinto Coolly Maintains the Pressure

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 20, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) I extend a hat tip to the Sydney Morning Herald for alerting me to the incendiary comments made by Lourenco Goncalves, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cliffs Natural Resources … Read more

Negative Feedback Loops Should Continue Pressuring Iron Ore Prices Lower

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 19, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) {April 8, 2015 addendum: negative feedback loop is not the accurate term. I should have left it at feedback loops or even destructive feedback loops} {snip} {snip} There is every reason … Read more

Rio Tinto and The Iron Ore Version of “Dancing Until the Music Stops”

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on October 5, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} Almost any piece these days discussing the price of iron ore refers to the growing supply gut caused by major iron ore miners who continue to produce and ship as … Read more

More Rate Cut Pressure As Australian Dollar’s Multi-Year Weakness Fails to Curb Trade Deficit

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on April 2, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) A drop in the Australian dollar (FXA) toward a fresh six-year low has not stopped Australia’s trade balance from worsening. {snip} Source: The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Source for currency … Read more

Rio Tinto Quickly Gives Up Gains from Morgan Stanley Upgrade

Two weeks ago, I noted Rio Tinto (RIO) as a prime short as a late responder to the on-going collapse in iron ore prices. On Monday (September 22), it broke down. Typically, I close out fortuitous short positions on such swift moves, but I am projecting RIO to go a lot lower over the next … Read more

Don’t Overplay the Recovery In Iron Ore Prices

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 7, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) Back in September, one of the big stories was the plunge in iron ore prices to three-year lows around $87/ton. With prices down over 50% from the record high of $191/ton … Read more

2012 Will Begin with Several Candidate Trades for the Commodity Crash Playbook

This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 28, 2011. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Federal Reserve’s second phase of quantitative easing (QE2) is slowly becoming a distant memory…{snip} The stark contrast between winning and losing stocks (S&P 500 index versus many commodity stocks) leaves … Read more