Energy & Commodities

Why the OPEC price war will rage on

Posted by Jackie Forrest, National Post

on Thursday, 19 November 2015 18:10

opecMany people ask me, “Why doesn’t Saudi Arabia cut production to boost prices?”

I almost always pause, knowing there isn’t a quick black-and-white answer.

So hedging my knowledge I reply, “While anything is possible the likelihood of a cut occuring is slim”… CLICK HERE for the complete article

Junk Bonds Under Pressure

Posted by Pater Tenebrarum

on Wednesday, 18 November 2015 23:10

While the Stock Market is Partying …

tipping oil rig

There are seemingly always “good reasons” why troubles in a sector of the credit markets are supposed to be ignored – or so people are telling us, every single time. Readers may recall how the developing problems in the sub-prime sector of the mortgage credit market were greeted by officials and countless market observers in the beginning in 2007.

At first it was assumed that the most highly rated tranches of complex structured products would be immune, as the riskier equity tranches would serve as a sufficient buffer for credit losses. When that turned out to be wishful thinking, it was argued that the problem would remain “well contained” anyway. After all, sub-prime only represented a small part of the overall mortgage credit market. It could not possibly affect the entire market. This is precisely the attitude in evidence with respect to corporate debt at the moment…. CLICK HERE for the complete article

Wednesday’s list of exchange-traded products hitting all-time lows is a graveyard of precious metals funds. To this point in Wednesday’s session, 16 ETFs and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) have touched all-time lows, with half of those being precious metals products.

That group of eight does not include another six diversified commodities ETFs, several of which have ample precious metals exposure.

Commodities Overview

Following last week’s terror attacks in Paris, oil has been getting seemingly more attention than usual, but the persistently strong U.S. dollar has been a drag on… CLICK HERE for the complete article

An Open Letter About the Market

Posted by J C Parets

on Wednesday, 18 November 2015 22:58

J C ParetsWe are about 6 weeks away from finishing 2015 and there are a lot of unanswered questions.

So let’s look back at how we got here so we can take a weight-of-the-evidence approach in forming of a thesis of what to expect next.

At AllStarCharts, we incorporate a global top-down approach, focusing on various liquid asset classes from a global perspective.

With our long/short mentality, we seek to generate absolute returns regardless of the broader economic or market environment.

We’ll start with the US stock market.

While the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average have gone nowhere this year, the Nasdaq 100 is up 10% year-to-date.

The big laggard is obviously the…. CLICK HERE for the complete article

Eye on Shorts: What bearish investors are betting against

Posted by Globe and Mail

on Wednesday, 18 November 2015 22:54

shorts

CLICK HERE for the rest of the charts

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