Invest Offshore

This week we will see the stock market grabbing most of the headlines as it cruises through 13,000 on the Dow. We are seeing a trend develop in the soft complex that is worth mentioning. We are seeing all but one of the major soft markets trending down which could be foretelling of an overall slowdown in the pace of growth commodities have enjoyed in recent years. Markets like OJ were leading indicators on the way up and are now likely to be leading indicators on the way down. This in no way implies that the commodity boom is over but rather just a normal correction or slowdown within a larger bull market.

Continue reading "Market Comments by Derek Frey" »

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SHANGHAI (Interfax-China) -- China aims to produce 193 million tonnes of oil and 92 billion cubic metres of natural gas by 2010, according to an energy blueprint released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on April 10.

While the target represents a mere 5% growth in oil output compared to last year, or 2.12% in annual growth, the gas target represents a 56% jump in natural gas production, necessitating growth of 12.6% a year.

Continue reading "China Energy Production Plans" »

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More and more people are looking for investment alternatives as volatility in the stock market continues. If you are not currently trading the commodities markets, what are you waiting for? If you can trade stocks then you can trade futures. The main difference between the two markets is the amount of leverage we use in futures. Because of the increased leverage, risk management is the most important part of trading these markets.

Continue reading "Commodity Futures Trader" »

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The following rules describe an investment in commodity futures. You should be aware that Futures and options trading is not suitable for all individuals. The degree of leverage available can lead to large profits as well as large losses. The following information should not be used for the purposes of making an informed decision regarding an investment in futures or options.

Continue reading "12 Golden Rules for Successful Trading" »

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NEW YORK, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NYMEX Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NMX), the parent company of the New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., announced today that NYMEX Chairman Richard Schaeffer, NYMEX President and Chief Executive Officer James E. Newsome, and NYMEX Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Shifrin will present at the Citigroup Financial Services Conference in New York, NY, on January 31 at 11:15 AM.

Continue reading "NYMEX to Present At Financial Services Conference" »

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The Options Queen, Jeanette Schwarz has just released her first book:

The Options Doctor: Option Strategies for Every Kind of Market (Wiley Trading)

The cold winds have returned to the North-Eastern region of the United States, just as we all were about to sell our old winter clothing. We here, in this region, have been blessed with a balmy Winter, rather than our normally "cool' experience. This week, we returned to what is: "normal." So too, did the markets receive their dose of sanity, with some very slight retreats, which made their appearance, post earnings, this past week.

Continue reading "The Options Doctor" »

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2007 has begun with a bang! The first week of trading was wild to say the least. We started the week with many markets moving higher only to reverse and seemingly fall out of the sky. It is clear that money is draining out of the Commodities complex at this time. This is not a major surprise as the CNBC indicator has been flashing a sell for some time now.

Continue reading "CNBC Market Indicator" »

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In the fast paced business of commodities trading, it can be difficult to find someone who wants to take the time to help you understand the potential profit opportunities as well as the risks involved in today's markets.

Continue reading "CommodityBroker.com" »

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CHICAGO, Nov. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CME, the world's largest and most diverse financial exchange, announced today the successful launch of the PIMCO® StocksPLUS® Total Return TRAKRS(SM) product, the twelfth in a series of non-traditional futures products developed jointly with Merrill Lynch.

Continue reading "CME and Merrill Lynch Launch PIMCO SPTR TRAKRS" »

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As the global marketplace develops so does the needs of the investor to create proper portfolio diversification. Until recently, traditional investment vehicles such as stocks, bonds, and real estate seemed to be sufficient for adequate diversification. With the creation of new investment vehicles, economic forces from around the world can now be combined to significantly influence your investment portfolio performance.

Continue reading "Managed Futures for a More Balanced Portfolio" »

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The markets have been on a steady rise since bottoming out in mid-July. Much of this relates to the markets belief that the economy and housing market is in for a soft landing. Basically, the market has been priced on the assumption that Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) are finished raising interest rates, the housing market will soften, but not collapse, energy prices will not move higher and that inflation will abate as the economy moderates. Have the markets been priced for perfection? If so, we could be in for a wild ride over the next few months and the beginning of 2007.

Continue reading "Priced for Perfection" »

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If you've traveled overseas in the past few weeks you might have seen managing principal of Parrot Trading Partners, LLC, Jes Santaularia, on CNN International. Jes was featured on as part of a CNN International segment called, "Passion to Portfolio", featuring 13 entrepreneurs worldwide.

Continue reading "Passion to Portfolio" »

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As the current secular bull market in commodities enters the next phase of its life, it is worth reflecting on the different ways to play the market. There are, in essence, 3 distinct possibilities to enhance your portfolio with commodities plays: 1) Invest in futures contracts, 2) invest in companies that are involved with mining, energy, and agriculture, and 3) invest in the stock markets of commodity based countries.

Continue reading "Futures contracts or commodity companies?" »

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CME Expands Global FX Product Line With New Chinese Renminbi Futures Contracts - Exchange Strengthens Asia Presence with New Office in Hong Kong

HONG KONG and CHICAGO, June 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CME, the world's largest and most diverse financial exchange and the largest regulated marketplace for foreign exchange (FX) trading announced today that it plans to list new futures contracts and options on futures on the Chinese Renminbi against the U.S. dollar, the Euro and the Japanese Yen.

Continue reading "Chinese Renminbi futures contract" »

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Summer volatility yields new questions, opportunities

Notable moves since our last US Futures Summary report (4/5) include a sharp 4% drop in the US Dollar index, a $7 round trip in crude, a $140 rally in gold (followed by $100 drop), huge swings in the price of silver and the worst May performance in 22 years for the SP500 index. Questions of inflation, Iran, the Fed and over speculation in commodity prices continue to dominate.

Continue reading "US Futures Summary" »

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CommodityTrader.com provides a unique content-rich website, to distribute knowledge for guiding a commodity trader towards more successful investment results, with less risk and a greater understanding of the Global Commodity Markets.

Continue reading "Futures Market Guide" »

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Seasonality occurs within many aspects of our lives. The changing of the seasons is but just one simple example. While these seasonal changes can and do exhibit tremendous influence on our lives, if we are aware of it, we can easily anticipate and prepare. For example, buying winter clothing during the fall season in preparation for the arrival of winter would be a very simplistic example of a type of seasonal anticipation.

Continue reading "Seasonal Commodity Futures Trading Grid" »

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May 12, 2006 (China Knowledge) – The Chinese government is considering giving foreign investors limited access to trade commodity futures contracts in order to pave the way for the futures and derivatives exchange, according to Xinhua.

China plans to offer stock index futures, bond and interest rate futures and currency derivatives through a financial derivatives exchange to be based in Shanghai, sources said.

Continue reading "China to open futures market to foreign investors" »

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Everyone uses commodities such as wheat, cocoa, crude oil, butter, coal and electricity. But most investors know that speculating on commodities in the futures markets is only for the pros, and no sensible amateur would bet his retirement or college funds on sugar, silver, orange juice or feeder cattle. One of the most infamous commodities investments, pork belly futures, is shorthand for "how to lose your nest egg in the wink of an eye."

Continue reading "Are Commodities Futures Too Risky for Your Portfolio? Hogwash!" »

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G. Chandrashekhar -

CHINA'S commodities bull story which has held everyone's attention in recent years, is far from over. In the near future, the Asian giant's growth could be even stronger than the scorching rate so far.

Support for this extremely optimistic view is drawn from China's Communist party endorsement of doubling the country's GDP per capita by 2010 as compared with the year 2000.

Continue reading "China's growth projection to boost commodities" »

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By Clifford Krauss, Steven Lee Myers, Andrew C. Revkin and Simon Romero -

CHURCHILL, Manitoba It seems harsh to say that bad news for polar bears is good for Pat Broe. Mr. Broe, a Denver entrepreneur, is no more to blame than anyone else for a meltdown at the top of the world that threatens Arctic mammals and ancient traditions and lends credibility to dark visions of global warming.

Still, the newest study of the Arctic ice cap - finding that it faded this summer to its smallest size ever recorded - is beginning to make Mr. Broe look like a visionary for buying this derelict Hudson Bay port from the Canadian government in 1997. Especially at the price he paid: about $7.

Continue reading "Arctic riches coming out of the cold" »

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By Margaret Orgill -

ABERDEEN (Reuters) - The country could have difficulty meeting gas demand this winter if it is exceptionally cold and industrial consumers could see their supplies cut, the energy minister said on Tuesday.

This is due to falling gas flows from ageing North Sea fields, Malcolm Wicks said.

"This winter could be tough. If there is very, very cold weather in the UK, there could be some difficulty...this would not affect domestic customers but could affect industry," Wicks told Reuters on the sidelines of the "Offshore Europe" conference in Scotland.

Continue reading "Possible gas problems if winter severe-minister" »

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Names like Paul Krugman, Kenneth Rogoff, John Hull, Philippe Jorion, and Emanuel Derman, among other important professionals from the areas of economics, finance and risk analysis, have confirmed their presence at the II International Derivatives and Financial Market Conference, which will be held between the 24th and 27th of August 2005 in Campos do Jordão, Brazil.

Continue reading "Derivatives Conference attracts renowned economists, financial analysts and risk managers" »

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By Meg Richards -

NEW YORK -- If you own both stock and bond funds, you probably consider yourself well-diversified. But research by Lipper Inc. suggests broad exposure to commodities like gold, oil and copper can go a long way toward rounding out a mutual fund portfolio, as long as you understand the risks.

One of the reasons stocks and bonds are paired together is that they can perform differently from each other _ when one declines, the other typically advances. For even more diversification, professional investors often add other asset classes, such as real estate and commodities, that theoretically can zig when stocks or bonds zag.

Continue reading "Commodity Funds Can Diversify Portfolio" »

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By Tom Taulli -

Famed investor Jim Rogers made a fortune by investing in commodities during the 1970s. Now, Rogers is back in commodities, and he's giving individual investors advice in his new book, Hot Commodities (Random House, 2005). His thesis is that the world is in the midst of a bull market in commodities. He believes that the boom started in 1998 and will last for roughly 20 years.

True, such predictions are never a sure thing. Sometimes, they don't pan out at all. But regardless of whether there really is a major bull market for commodities, it is still a good idea for investors to have some in their portfolio. Commodities represent a unique asset class and can add diversification to a portfolio alongside other asset classes, such as equities, bonds, and cash.

Continue reading "Playing Commodities With ETFs" »

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By Darius Snieckus -

With nearly 70% of current global oil production flowing from fields more than 30 years old - and peaking or in decline - oil companies are increasingly focused on information technology's role in helping the upstream industry face the 'challenges and opportunities' of the coming decade.

STREAMLINING OPERATIONAL PROCESSES THROUGH information management systems - now the 'enabling' realm of e-, i-, digital and smart fields - is a subject that has been pushed toward the spotlight in the last few years as the oil and gas industry continues its two-front campaign to lower exploration and development costs while increasing and extending production from workhorse developments the world over.

Continue reading "E&P's 'i' on the future" »

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"President Bush Wednesday will propose new steps to increase domestic energy production, including incentives that could result in construction of nuclear-power plants and building oil refineries on abandoned military bases," USA Today reports.

"Oil prices have been rising because increased demand in countries such as China and India has made it difficult to keep production up. Bush has said that passage of energy legislation he proposed four years ago was the best solution."

Continue reading "Not Energized by Bush's Energy Bill" »

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Jim Rogers is the author of Investment Biker (Random House 1994), Adventure Capitalist (Random House 2003) and Hot Commodities (Random House 2005).

Born in 1942, Jim Rogers had his first job at age five, picking up bottles at baseball games. Winning a scholarship to Yale, Rogers was coxswain. Upon graduation, he attended Balliol College at Oxford where became an Oxford Blue. After a stint in the army, he began work on Wall Street. He co-founded the Quantum Fund, a global investment partnership. After 10 profitable years when the portfolio gained 4,200% while the S&P rose less than 50%, he decided to retire, at the age of 37, but wouldn't remain idle.

Continue reading "Investment Biker" »

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By Shawn Mercer -

Investing doesn't just have to be about stocks and bonds. There are many investments that may be a good fit for your portfolio. While some alternative investments can enhance a portfolio, they should probably be a modest percentage of your overall financial plan.

Examples of alternative investments include real estate, managed futures, private equity, along with many others. Because the pattern of returns in these investment categories typically don't correlate closely with those of stocks and bonds, their presence in a portfolio can complement returns, while potentially reducing the portfolio's overall ups and downs.

Continue reading "Alternative investments may help portfolio" »

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By Craig D. Rose -

LONDON – No one comes to this fascinating city for the food. But many, like San Diego-based Sempra Energy, come for the money that can be made here.

While many back home associate Sempra with its San Diego Gas & Electric subsidiary, or perhaps with Southern California Gas Co., another wholly owned utility, commodity trading is Sempra's most rapidly growing profit source.

Continue reading "Hot commodity" »

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March 29 (Bloomberg) -- The surge in commodity prices may be close to peaking, ending a four-year rally that included a range of raw materials from oil to copper to gold, said Daniel Chesler, an independent analyst who studies market patterns.

The Goldman Sachs Commodity Index has failed to top the record it reached in October, gold is down from a 16-year high in December and the dollar has rebounded from a record low against the euro, Chesler, 38, said in a telephone interview yesterday from Wellington, Florida.

Continue reading "Commodity Strategists: Commodity Rally May Be Close to Peaking" »

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By Juan Forero -

Latin America is becoming a rich destination in China's global quest for energy, with the Chinese signing accords with Venezuela, investing in largely untapped markets like Peru and exploring possibilities in Bolivia and Colombia.

China's sights are focused mostly on Venezuela, which ships more than 60 percent of its crude oil to the United States. With huge oil reserves and a president who says that his country needs to diversify its energy business, Venezuela has emerged as an obvious contender for Beijing's attention.

Continue reading "China Woos Latin America in Oil Hunt" »

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Can money be called a "commodity"? What do Islamic scholars say about this idea?

Before we get to these questions, let us briefly go over some important points regarding how Islamic banks differ from conventional banks the whole focus of our ongoing discussion through this column over the past few weeks.

An Islamic bank deploys funds from a common pool (obtained from depositors on a Mudaraba basis). It credits profits as well as debits and losses to the same pool.

Continue reading "Sharia law says money cannot be regarded as a commodity" »

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By Bill Cara -

While it could be a good speculative investment, gold is usually a poor investment for conservative investors unless you are into writing puts or calls for additional income. The gold futures market is that much more dangerous.

Gold futures contracts give the gold speculator the biggest bang for the buck. Similar to contracts for commodities, they can be handled by most brokers and are actively traded on the New York Commodity Exchange and the International Monetary Market in Chicago.

Continue reading "The Gold futures market" »

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