asiablues's blog

You would think if someone is willing to handle the Gulf oil clean-up with equipment and technology not available in the U.S., and finishes the job in shorter time than the current estimate, the U.S. should jump on the offer. But it turned out to be quite the opposite.

Copper and crude oil are both base essentials heavily reliant upon by economies globally for everyday usage, with no meaningful substitution options. Gold, on the other hand, is not as essential to keep the everyday world running seamlessly, and could conceivably be substituted by other commodities with a change in global monetary standard or people’s perception. From that perspective, I think there are a few recent trends pertaining to crude and copper that are being misinterpreted.

So the employment report disappointed, but was it really as bad as evidenced by such a disproportionate selloff?

The Gulf oil spill seems to one of the events which markets are having anxieties over. However, the recent pullback on commodities due to this mis-reaction should serve as a good entry point for long-term investors. A few options are discussed here.

Faber's latest market call in a Bloomberg interview on May 24, plus my comment and a technical look of the SPX and gold.

Dr. Doom sees stock market to sell off another 20% in the next few months. This time, I will not argue with the man.

Discussing the natural gas market outlook and some mitigating factors prompting oil and gas companies to drill their gas shales even in the face of weak natural gas prices.

Many analysts expect gold prices to fall back near $800 an ounce over the next ten or twelve months as demand from jewelry has been weak, and that much of gold's recent strength has been speculative in nature. However, similar to crude oil, gold also has become an asset class in itself and trades beyond market fundamentals.

According to stories circulating around the trading floor, Dow’s a thousand points of fright on May 6 is the result of a "fat finger" trade. However, trade data seems to suggest the catalyst could be some big fat cats doing "sell in May and go away".

Bloomberg reported that crude oil open interest was 1.41 million contracts, the highest since June 11, 2008. Some analysts think the high level of open interest raises concerns about whether the market is overvalued relative to fundamentals and whether the upward price trend can continue.

The ongoing Greek debt crisis has revived the old arguments that all national governments need monetary sovereignty. So, what if Greece had stayed with the Drachma, and never switched to the euro? Would this debt crisis be averted?

According to estimates by The Economist, foreign banks’ exposure to Greece, Portugal and Spain combined comes to €1.2 trillion. All this could all end horribly, if governments refuse to cut spending and markets refuse to fund that spending.

A new symbol of China's market ambitions: It is getting its own charging bull sculpture for its Shanghai Stock Exchange, similar to the one in front of the New York Stock Exchange.

Olivier Blanchard, chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), talks with Bloomberg this morning about the prospects for an asset bubble in China. Blanchard, speaking from Washington, also discusses the impact of sovereign debt on global economic growth.

Crude futures ended at their lowest point this month Friday, as investors fled riskier assets after regulators charged Goldman Sachs with fraud. Nonetheless, industry insiders are fully expecting this still intact seasonal pattern: a rise in gas prices in the months ahead during the summer driving season (from April 1 to Sept. 30).