Precious metals will advance 27 percent or more, industrial metals at least 17 percent and grains 5 percent, according to the median estimates in a Bloomberg survey of 143 analysts, traders and investors. Nine of the 15 commodities covered by a similar survey a year earlier reached their predicted highs in 2011, with another five no more than 4 percent away.
The six largest lenders, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), may post an average profit increase of 57 percent this year, according to 184 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
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Showing posts with label commodities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label commodities. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Summer Heat!!!
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up three points in screen trade.
The Tokyo market was buoyed by optimism over the U.S. manufacturing data and on buying in exporter stocks as yen weakened against the euro.
All 33 Topix subindexes were higher with Honda Motor up 2.7%, Sony 0.9% higher and Mitsui Fudosan up 3.6%.
Bridgestone advanced 2.9% after it announced a hike in truck and bus tire prices. Hitachi Zosen tacked on 3.2% on a Nikkei report over the weekend that the company has received an order worth an estimated ¥20 billion to build a plant in the U.K.
South Korean tech shares rose as the firm U.S. data raised hopes for stronger global demand-growth, analysts said; Samsung Electronics tacked on 3.0% and LG Electronics added 2.0%. Auto shares were also higher after Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors posted solid sales growth in the U.S. for June; the stocks were up 0.8% and 1.5%, respectively.
In Sydney, BHP Billiton rose 0.9%, Origin Energy added 0.9% and major banks were up 0.7%-0.8%.
Treasury Wine Estates jumped 10% after Bloomberg reported that China's Bright Food is considering a takeover bid.
Murchison Metals bucked the market and slumped 12% after it said costs for the Oakajee iron ore export project, which it jointly manages with Japan's Mitsubishi Corp., have increased by more than a third to A$5.94 billion (US$6.40 billion) and that the first ore won't be delivered until 2015.
Qantas Airways surged 4.1% after Australia's airline safety regulator grounded Tiger Airways Australia flights for a week on safety concerns, and engineers cancelled industrial action against Qantas. Shares of the Singaporean budget airline Tiger Airways Holdings, the parent of Tiger Airways Australia, slumped 8.4% on the Singapore bourse on the regulatory action.
In foreign exchange markets, stronger equities and further progress in resolving Greece's debt crisis drove risk-sensitive currencies higher, with the euro tapping a one-month high of $1.4580 against the U.S. dollar in early Asian trade.
Over the weekend euro-zone finance ministers signed off on a new slice of bailout money for Greece. They also decided they would agree by September on arrangements for a new bailout to supplement the €110 billion package (US$159.79 billion) they agreed on last year, but which fell short, mainly because Greece is unable to raise money in the financial markets, as had been expected.
Investment ideas: commodities and manufacturing.
The Tokyo market was buoyed by optimism over the U.S. manufacturing data and on buying in exporter stocks as yen weakened against the euro.
All 33 Topix subindexes were higher with Honda Motor up 2.7%, Sony 0.9% higher and Mitsui Fudosan up 3.6%.
Bridgestone advanced 2.9% after it announced a hike in truck and bus tire prices. Hitachi Zosen tacked on 3.2% on a Nikkei report over the weekend that the company has received an order worth an estimated ¥20 billion to build a plant in the U.K.
South Korean tech shares rose as the firm U.S. data raised hopes for stronger global demand-growth, analysts said; Samsung Electronics tacked on 3.0% and LG Electronics added 2.0%. Auto shares were also higher after Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors posted solid sales growth in the U.S. for June; the stocks were up 0.8% and 1.5%, respectively.
In Sydney, BHP Billiton rose 0.9%, Origin Energy added 0.9% and major banks were up 0.7%-0.8%.
Treasury Wine Estates jumped 10% after Bloomberg reported that China's Bright Food is considering a takeover bid.
Murchison Metals bucked the market and slumped 12% after it said costs for the Oakajee iron ore export project, which it jointly manages with Japan's Mitsubishi Corp., have increased by more than a third to A$5.94 billion (US$6.40 billion) and that the first ore won't be delivered until 2015.
Qantas Airways surged 4.1% after Australia's airline safety regulator grounded Tiger Airways Australia flights for a week on safety concerns, and engineers cancelled industrial action against Qantas. Shares of the Singaporean budget airline Tiger Airways Holdings, the parent of Tiger Airways Australia, slumped 8.4% on the Singapore bourse on the regulatory action.
In foreign exchange markets, stronger equities and further progress in resolving Greece's debt crisis drove risk-sensitive currencies higher, with the euro tapping a one-month high of $1.4580 against the U.S. dollar in early Asian trade.
Over the weekend euro-zone finance ministers signed off on a new slice of bailout money for Greece. They also decided they would agree by September on arrangements for a new bailout to supplement the €110 billion package (US$159.79 billion) they agreed on last year, but which fell short, mainly because Greece is unable to raise money in the financial markets, as had been expected.
Investment ideas: commodities and manufacturing.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s
According to Global Financial Integrity, multinational corporations’ tax evasion, when averaged per year over the last ten years, amounts to a global net loss of $400 to $440 billion for developing countries
1 June 2011, The European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU's financial arm, has frozen future loans to Swiss mining giant Glencore, suspected of tax evasion in Zambia.
"Due to serious concerns about Glencore's governance which have been brought to light recently... the president of the EIB has instructed the services to decline any further financing request from this company or one of its subsidiaries," the Luxembourg-based bank's website said.
Following a Zambian probe into tax affairs surrounding the mines and complaints by anti-poverty campaigners, the EIB has informed the EU's anti-fraud office OLAF and launched its own investigation.
"In the event that this investigation were to conclusively demonstrate tax evasion according to the Zambian authorities this would clearly expose MCM to local financial penalties and lead to events that may trigger early repayment of the EIB loan," the bank said.
The cause for the complaint lies in the financial and accounting manipulations performed by the two companies’ subsidiary, Mopani Copper Mines Plc (MCM), in order to evade taxation in Zambia.
Those allegations are based on the results of a 2009 audit performed at the request of the Zambian authorities, with support from Norwegian government, by international accountants Grant Thornton and Econ Pöyry. Among the anomalies revealed by the report, an unexplained increase in operating costs in 2007 (+ $380 million), stunningly low reported volumes of extracted cobalt when compared to similar mining companies operating in the region, and manipulations of copper selling prices in favor of Glencore which constitute a violation of OECD’s “arm’s length” principle. The result of those various processes was to lower by several hundreds of millions dollars MCM’s net income for the 2003-2008 period, hereby substantially lightening the company’s tax burden.
Those actions are all the more deplorable when one considers that the Mopani consortium operates in an already attractive fiscal environment, one highly favorable to foreign investment, and that Mopani also enjoys the effects of a 2000 development agreement with Zambia that provides massive financial and tax exemptions.
And if Zambia doesn’t raise your concerns then warehousing might?
Hagens Berman today announced that it is investigating potential claims against the owners of large metals warehouses, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and Glencore International PLC (LSE:GLEN.L) after media sources reported that the companies are limiting the amount of metal released to customers and investors, potentially artificially inflating prices.
The delay in releasing the metal has reportedly contributed to a significant growth in the price of aluminum and other metals. According to media sources, at least one major aluminum consumer has complained to the London Metal Exchange (LME), which sets the minimum amount of metal that warehouse owners must release each day. The LME is reportedly investigating the matter.
Hagens Berman is investigating whether the limits on metal released violate antitrust laws, and whether the warehouse owners’ activities constituted manipulation of the price of aluminum in violation of the Commodities Exchange Act (CEA).
Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time…..
1 June 2011, The European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU's financial arm, has frozen future loans to Swiss mining giant Glencore, suspected of tax evasion in Zambia.
"Due to serious concerns about Glencore's governance which have been brought to light recently... the president of the EIB has instructed the services to decline any further financing request from this company or one of its subsidiaries," the Luxembourg-based bank's website said.
Following a Zambian probe into tax affairs surrounding the mines and complaints by anti-poverty campaigners, the EIB has informed the EU's anti-fraud office OLAF and launched its own investigation.
"In the event that this investigation were to conclusively demonstrate tax evasion according to the Zambian authorities this would clearly expose MCM to local financial penalties and lead to events that may trigger early repayment of the EIB loan," the bank said.
The cause for the complaint lies in the financial and accounting manipulations performed by the two companies’ subsidiary, Mopani Copper Mines Plc (MCM), in order to evade taxation in Zambia.
Those allegations are based on the results of a 2009 audit performed at the request of the Zambian authorities, with support from Norwegian government, by international accountants Grant Thornton and Econ Pöyry. Among the anomalies revealed by the report, an unexplained increase in operating costs in 2007 (+ $380 million), stunningly low reported volumes of extracted cobalt when compared to similar mining companies operating in the region, and manipulations of copper selling prices in favor of Glencore which constitute a violation of OECD’s “arm’s length” principle. The result of those various processes was to lower by several hundreds of millions dollars MCM’s net income for the 2003-2008 period, hereby substantially lightening the company’s tax burden.
Those actions are all the more deplorable when one considers that the Mopani consortium operates in an already attractive fiscal environment, one highly favorable to foreign investment, and that Mopani also enjoys the effects of a 2000 development agreement with Zambia that provides massive financial and tax exemptions.
And if Zambia doesn’t raise your concerns then warehousing might?
Hagens Berman today announced that it is investigating potential claims against the owners of large metals warehouses, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and Glencore International PLC (LSE:GLEN.L) after media sources reported that the companies are limiting the amount of metal released to customers and investors, potentially artificially inflating prices.
The delay in releasing the metal has reportedly contributed to a significant growth in the price of aluminum and other metals. According to media sources, at least one major aluminum consumer has complained to the London Metal Exchange (LME), which sets the minimum amount of metal that warehouse owners must release each day. The LME is reportedly investigating the matter.
Hagens Berman is investigating whether the limits on metal released violate antitrust laws, and whether the warehouse owners’ activities constituted manipulation of the price of aluminum in violation of the Commodities Exchange Act (CEA).
Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time…..
Sunday, June 5, 2011
June Swoon or not? My bets are on that which feeds us….
No nation is an island and the world continues to motor on even in the wake of European Debt crisis after crisis and environmental wake-up calls in select parts of the globe.
What do we know…feedstocks are all in growing demand. Oil, metals, corn and wheat. Guess what? All have faced big challenges in delivering on growth to meet increasing demand. Think about civil unrest, environmental impacts and a global population that grows at 2%+ year and is urbanizing at 10% pa. All equal: upward pressure and strains on supply lines…
Speculators raised their net-long positions in 18 commodities in the week ended May 31, government data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index rose for a fourth straight week as Chinese metal inventories plunged and droughts lingered in the Asian country and Europe, trimming prospects for wheat and cotton crops. The global recovery “is gaining strength,” the Group of Eight leaders said May 27 after a summit in Deauville, France.
One final note: The Asia-Pacific region overtook North America last year as the world’s biggest derivatives market amid increasing demand for futures and options contracts in the region’s fast-growing economies, according to data from the Washington-based Futures Industry Association.
Pure plays, like commodities are trader’s friends. Asia – Pacific and Southern Cone are going to make huge strides this year and next and that means more volatility!!!
What do we know…feedstocks are all in growing demand. Oil, metals, corn and wheat. Guess what? All have faced big challenges in delivering on growth to meet increasing demand. Think about civil unrest, environmental impacts and a global population that grows at 2%+ year and is urbanizing at 10% pa. All equal: upward pressure and strains on supply lines…
Speculators raised their net-long positions in 18 commodities in the week ended May 31, government data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index rose for a fourth straight week as Chinese metal inventories plunged and droughts lingered in the Asian country and Europe, trimming prospects for wheat and cotton crops. The global recovery “is gaining strength,” the Group of Eight leaders said May 27 after a summit in Deauville, France.
One final note: The Asia-Pacific region overtook North America last year as the world’s biggest derivatives market amid increasing demand for futures and options contracts in the region’s fast-growing economies, according to data from the Washington-based Futures Industry Association.
Pure plays, like commodities are trader’s friends. Asia – Pacific and Southern Cone are going to make huge strides this year and next and that means more volatility!!!
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