The key to the rising price for gold in the 1930s was the effort by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to raise the nominal price of gold from $20 to $35 per ounce. It was still - in many respects - a gold standard world back then. But in raising the gold price, FDR also indirectly spurred the market capitalization of much of the mining industry. One thing to keep in mind is this. We know a few things about inflation, both practically and from economic theory…
September 26th, 2008 | Byron King | 2 comments | ContinuedResources
Commentary on global resources such as oil, food and energy, by your Daily Reckoning editors in Melbourne, Australia. Still haven’t subscribed to the Daily Reckoning? What are you waiting for… sign up here, it’s free!
A chronological listing of articles is below.
Topsoil Crisis: The Race to Secure Fertile Farmland
The mainstream press focuses on issues such as population, dietary shifts and the impact of biofuels. One thing that doesn’t get talked about much may be the most important thing of all: a growing shortage of quality topsoil. Call it the topsoil crisis. Quality soil is loose, clumpy, filled with air pockets and teeming with life. It’s a complex microecosystem all its own. On average, the planet has little more than 3 feet of topsoil spread over its surface…
September 25th, 2008 | Chris Mayer | 4 comments | Continued
Profiting From the Copper Indecision
Copper has fallen 22 percent from the peak of $8,775 posted on June 30, as increasing stockpiles signalled weaker demand. Imports of copper and copper products by China fell 4% in August compared with July. Another element that has an impact globally on commodities markets is the recovery of the US Dollar. Remember that despite the exchange being based in London, copper is priced in US Dollars.
September 12th, 2008 | Gabriel Andre | 0 comments | Continued
OPEC May Cut Oil Production
While the financial empire burns, OPEC decides whether or not it’s going to cut production today. Lower energy prices are about the only good news to come out of falling commodity and stock prices. But OPEC producers like Venezuela and Iran want the world’s big oil cartel to cut production and put a floor under prices. You get the feeling that OPEC doesn’t want the oil price to go too low.
September 10th, 2008 | Dan Denning | 0 comments | Continued
Wheat Prices Look Set for a Move Up
What happens on the cereal markets? Look at the wheat prices. They took off from $5.65 a bushel in April 2007 to a high of $14.06 in late February 2008. It’s almost a 150% rise in less than one year. However prices have been falling back for roughly 6 months, and the closing price last Friday has been posted at $7.51. A good overview of the fundamentals of this volatile market is essential before analysing the technical aspects.
September 8th, 2008 | Gabriel Andre | 0 comments | Continued
Crude Oil Extends its Price Decline
The black goo is down considerably from its July 11th record high of $147.27 a barrel. At market open today, the price of crude for October delivery was down $2.23 to $107.48 a barrel.
September 4th, 2008 | Bill Bonner | 2 comments | Continued
Oil Prices Decline but Consumers Aren’t Out of the Woods Yet
Even though relief is being felt at the pumps, prices of most consumer products that were raised when the oil price surged have not yet come down…
September 4th, 2008 | Bill Bonner | 0 comments | Continued
Water Usage by Big Companies
J.P. Morgan finds that the ‘big five’ food and beverage companies use 150 billion gallons of water per year, enough to satisfy the daily water needs of every person on the planet…
September 3rd, 2008 | Bill Bonner | 0 comments | Continued
2008 Energy & Geology Tour
My journey began in mid-July, when I flew west to Vancouver via Air Canada. I spent a week there, attending the Agora Financial Investment Symposium…
September 3rd, 2008 | Byron King | 0 comments | Continued
The Energy Resources Are Out There
In the world of energy and scarcity, the name of the next president of the United States will matter quite a bit. “People are policy,” as Ronald Reagan used to say. But then again, a lot of energy and scarcity facts defy party labels. The energy resources are out there. They are what they are and where they are. We can exploit the resources or not. But it’s not like in Star Trek…
August 28th, 2008 | Byron King | 1 comment | Continued