Archive for Contrarian Profits
Free stock market news from Contrarian Profits. Latest world stock market news and breaking financial news online. Articles including contrarian investment strategies.Crude Oil Prices Hit $146… Who’s to Blame?
Anyone reading the financial press must feel like they’re trapped in a particularly grueling version of Groundhog Day. Crude oil prices just keep on rising.
Today, the black goo hit $146 a barrel. Traders took fright, it seems, at a drop in US stockpile. Crude oil prices are now up a whopping 55 percent since the beginning of the year.
But is supply and demand really the culprit? Hank Paulson thinks so. He says supply and demand is the “predominant factor.”
Will We See the Euro Break $1.58 Tomorrow?
Editor’s Note: The euro has been threatening to break $1.58 this week. It’s never quite made it. Currencies expert Chuck Butler says it could well break that barrier this week. There’s a doubly whammy coming. The European Central Bank (ECB) is likely to raise rates. And jobs data from the US is set to show negative job creation for six months running.
Who’s Really Behind Skyrocketing Oil and Commodities Prices?
American consumers are feeling the pain both at the pump and in the grocery store. Meanwhile with real full-time unemployment rates climbing towards 10%, penny-pinching consumers are wondering just who is to blame.
Bush’s Rebate Checks Stimulate Arab Economies!
Has President Bush’s genius plan to save the US economy worked? It has if you’re an oil-rich foreign nation, says Bill Bonner in The Daily Reckoning.
Time to Jump In to GM Foods?
Midwest floods might not push up corn prices as much as was feared, according to a report released by the US Department of Agriculture on the damage to crops caused by recent Midwest flooding.
According to the report, US farmers will harvest almost 9% less corn this year than last. Offsetting the flood damage is the more than 1 million additional acres of corn planted in March.
Corn futures, which were about $7.60 last week, dropped to about $7.25 yesterday on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Hoarding Nations Drive Prices Higher
Editors Note: At least 29 countries have limited food exports in recent months, according to The New York Times, pushing already record food prices around the world even higher. Could it be time to consider investing in genetically-modified foods?
When it comes to rice, India, Vietnam, China and 11 other countries have limited or banned exports. Fifteen countries, including Pakistan and Bolivia, have capped or halted wheat exports. More than a dozen have limited corn exports. Kazakhstan has restricted exports of sunflower seeds.
The restrictions are making it harder for impoverished importing countries to afford the food they need. The export limits are forcing some of the most vulnerable people, those who rely on relief agencies, to go hungry.
Inflation on the March… ECB Rate Hike Expected
Editor’s Note: Fear of inflation is growing around the world, and it’s shaking investor confidence in global stock markets. With two-thirds of the world’s population now experiencing inflation over 10%, smart investors are getting into gold, says Sally Limantour in Taipan Daily.
The International Herald Tribune reports that “benchmark indexes in Europe and Asia are also off sharply as investors digest the possibility that central banks will squelch growth with higher interest rates in the hope of containing inflation.”
Crude Oil Prices: $141 and Counting
Crude oil prices are now in uncharted territory.
The black goo reached yet another all-time high today at over $141 a barrel.
Crude oil futures on the Nymex hit a new record of $141.71 in electronic trading, smashing yesterday’s all-time record price of $140.39 a barrel.
Crude oil prices spiked partly on comments made by OPEC’s president that crude oil prices go higher still on dollar weakness. Fears that Libya would cut supply also sent jitters through the market.
The Dow Is Now Down for the Millenium
The Dow closed at 11,453.42 yesterday. It’s now below its December 31, 1999, close at 11,497.12. This from CrossingWallStreet.com:
All 30 stocks were down today. In percentage terms, today was the third worst day for the Dow in the last five years. The 3.13% sell-off from three weeks ago was slightly worse. Today was the 10th 300+ point sell-off in the last twelve months.
S&P’s/Case-Shiller Plunge Complicates Fed Decesion
The US economy was hit by a double-whammy of ugly economic data yesterday.
S&P’s/Case-Shiller’s index of housing prices in 20 major US cities fell by a record 15.3% year-on-year in April, the steepest drop since the began collecting data in 2001.
All 20 cities covered reported a drop in prices. US housing prices have now dropped below their 2004 levels.
Latest News
- Expect Global Inflaiton to Push Gold to $2,2002:25pm CDT
- Another ECB Rate Hike Will Kill the Dollar2:02pm CDT
- BRICs Crumbling Under Weight of Inflation10:51am CDT
- Food Producers Fail to Benefit from Spike in Market Prices10:23am CDT
- European Bank Stocks Rise on Improved Outlook9:34am CDT
- Crude Oil Prices Hit $146… Who’s to Blame?9:18am CDT
- UBS Shakes Up Board Ahead of ‘Likely’ IRS Probe11:41am CDT
- Iraq Seeks Foreign Investment to Rebuild Energy Sector10:37am CDT
- CIT Group Offloads Home Mortgage Business10:28am CDT
- The Decline and Fall of the American Empire9:16am CDT
- Gas Prices Remain High for Fourth of July Weekend7:49am CDT
- Crude Oil Prices Hit Another Record High Above $1401:26pm CDT
- Speculators Are to Blame for Sky-High Crude Oil Prices12:59pm CDT
- Gold Soars on Iran Attack Fears11:38am CDT
- Stimulus Checks Give One-Off Boost to Consumer Spending11:31am CDT
- Brazilian Industrial Output Slows11:14am CDT
- Qatar Sovereign Wealth Fund to Invest $8bn in Libya11:11am CDT
- June Slump Leads Dow Into Bear Market9:59am CDT
- Time to Jump In to GM Foods?8:19am CDT