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A stronger dollar index and falling long-term bond prices weighed on most commodities in December. The March dollar index rose 2.68%, while the March U.S. 30-year Treasury bond futures declined [...]

While four of the five soft commodities posted gains in 2023, and over the first nine months of 2024, cotton futures bucked the bullish trends and declined. In 2023, nearby [...]

In my early https://www.barchart.com/story/news/28887014/grains-recover-in-q3-what-are-the-prospects-for-q4-and-beyond, I concluded: Commodity prices are cyclical. They rise to levels where production increases, inventories grow, and consumer demand declines. They fall to levels where production declines, [...]

I have not written about platinum in months because the price has gone nowhere fast. The price has been trading around the $1,000 pivot point and was below in late [...]

In a https://www.barchart.com/story/news/29724178/will-silver-trade-at-new-record-highs-in-2025 I concluded: Buying gold and silver on price weakness since the turn of this century has been optimal, and I expect that trend to continue. Silver settled [...]

In a https://www.barchart.com/story/news/29481511/will-the-technical-support-hold-in-crude-oil-after-the-election on crude oil, I addressed whether crude oil will hold technical support after the 2024 U.S. election. I concluded the article with the following: Geopolitical events, U.S. [...]

In my Q3 report on the base metals sector on https://www.barchart.com/story/news/28985554/base-metals-in-q3-where-are-they-heading-in-q4-and-beyond, I highlighted copper’s 3.70% rise in Q3 and 17.03% price increase over the first nine months of 2024. Nearby [...]

In an https://www.barchart.com/story/news/28869974/cattle-and-hogs-animal-proteins-q3-and-beyond on the cattle and hog futures markets in Q3 and beyond, I concluded that: Meat prices declined in Q3, which is no surprise as it is the [...]

An https://www.barchart.com/story/news/28122812/will-grains-and-oilseeds-find-bottoms on the grain and oilseed markets highlighted wheat as the agricultural product in the grain sector that could be the first to bottom. I wrote: The ongoing war [...]

In a https://www.barchart.com/story/news/28743515/lumber-consolidation-is-500-a-gateway-to-higher-or-lower-prices, I ask if lumber futures consolidation at the $500 per 1,000 board feet level is a gateway to higher or lower prices. I concluded with the following: [...]

Natural gas is a seasonal commodity that tends to reach highs during winter and lows during spring. The injection season, when inventories rise, runs from late March or early April [...]

In a https://www.barchart.com/story/news/11856867/remx-rare-earth-metals-are-critical-commodities and rare earth metals, I highlighted the technological reliance on rare earth minerals, China’s supply dominance, and the mining and processing challenges. The REMX ETF was trading [...]

In a September 17, 2024, Barchart article on coal futures for delivery in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and Newcastle, Australia, I concluded: The economic conditions in China and India will determine [...]

In an https://www.barchart.com/story/news/28235452/can-sugar-recover, I asked if sugar futures prices can recover. I concluded: If the price action in coffee, cocoa, and FCOJ is a guide, sugar futures can recover with [...]

Benjamin Franklin, one of the U.S. Founding Fathers, once said, “In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” In the bond market, lower short-term rates do not guarantee [...]

In https://www.barchart.com/story/news/28705003/will-there-be-an-october-effect-on-stocks-in-2024 that addressed the stock market’s October effect, I concluded: Time will tell if there is an October effect in store in 2024, but the many issues facing markets [...]

I asked how high gold can rise in an early https://www.barchart.com/story/news/28344106/how-high-can-gold-rise. I concluded the piece with the following: Gold’s upside potential is a function of market sentiment and could reflect [...]

The energy sector of the commodities asset class fell 12.9% in Q3 2024 and was 3.8% lower over the first nine months of this year. In my https://www.barchart.com/story/news/27472555/where-is-the-energy-sector-heading-in-q3-and-beyond on the [...]

The base metals sector of the commodities market moved 1.47% higher in Q3 and was 13.19% higher than the December 2023 closing level at the end of September 2024. In [...]

In a https://www.barchart.com/story/news/27338844/where-are-precious-metals-heading-in-q3-and-beyond on the price action in the precious metals sector in Q2, I highlighted the GLTR ETF, which holds a portfolio of the four precious metals trading on [...]

In a https://www.barchart.com/story/news/28468989/why-are-cattle-prices-under-pressure on the cattle futures market, I suggested that seasonality is critical for animal proteins as the demand declines when grills return to storage for the fall and [...]

The U.S. dollar index is trading sideways, just above the psychological 100 level. While 100 is not technical support for the metric that measures the U.S. currency against other like-minded [...]

Soft commodities have been on fire, leading the commodities asset class in 2023, over the first six months of 2024, and in August. A https://www.barchart.com/story/news/28343202/commodity-market-roundup-augusts-top-performers-and-underperformers on the top performers and [...]

I argued that the VIX index was too low in a https://www.barchart.com/story/news/27557164/is-the-vix-still-too-low. The VIX was trading below the 16 level when I wrote: The VIX is not too low today, [...]

In a https://www.barchart.com/story/news/28041096/where-are-animal-protein-prices-heading-as-the-offseason-for-demand-approaches on the animal protein sector of the commodities market, I cited three factors supporting animal protein prices since the 2020 lows, including inflation increasing production costs, reduced [...]

Uranium is a silvery-white chemical element and an energy commodity. Enriched uranium U-235 concentrations are critical fuel for nuclear power plants and reactors that power naval ships and submarines. Uranium [...]

In a https://www.barchart.com/story/news/16723398/chinese-stocks-and-fxi, I concluded: While Chinese stocks offer value on paper, and the Chinese economy could be eclipsing the U.S. over the coming years, the geopolitical tensions between Washington [...]

The USDA released its https://www.usda.gov/oce/commodity/wasde/wasde0624.pdf on Wednesday, June 12. I reached out to Jake Hanley, the Managing Director of the Teucrium family of agricultural ETF products, including CORN, SOYB, and [...]

In my Q1 summary of soft commodities on https://www.barchart.com/story/news/25445367/where-are-soft-commodity-prices-heading-in-q2, I highlighted that https://www.barchart.com/futures/quotes/KCN24/overview rose 12.55% in 2023 and edged only 0.29% higher in Q1, settling at $1.8885 per pound. On [...]

In an https://www.barchart.com/story/news/19756898/are-coal-prices-setting-up-for-an-end-of-the-year-rebound, I asked if coal prices were setting up for an end-of-year rebound last year. The rebound never came, and coal prices are nearly unchanged in June 2024 [...]

What is the best way, and best knife to use, to minimise crumbs when slicing bread, particularly wholemeal? (continued) What is the best way, and best knife to use, to [...]

In a May 2 Barchart article on the wood futures market, I concluded: Lumber is in a bearish trend in May 2024, and the trend is always your best friend. [...]

In my April 5, https://www.barchart.com/story/news/25294796/where-are-grain-prices-heading-in-q2, I concluded: As the grains and oilseed futures market moves into Q2 2024, northern hemisphere farmers are planting the crops that will grow into the [...]

The annual grilling season lasts from the Memorial Day weekend, ushering in the start of summer, through the Labor Day weekend, when the fall begins. Barbecues are now coming out [...]

My https://www.barchart.com/story/news/25445367/where-are-soft-commodity-prices-heading-in-q2 recap on the soft commodities highlighted the new record highs in https://www.barchart.com/futures/quotes/CCN24/overview and the sector’s overall bullish price action. I concluded: The bottom line is that the risk [...]

In an https://www.barchart.com/story/news/25391878/where-are-base-metals-prices-heading-in-q2 recap of the base metals performance in Q1 2024, I concluded: The price action in early Q2 is bullish, but China’s economy, U.S. interest rates, and the [...]

In my Q1 energy report on Barchart, I highlighted that crude oil and oil product prices rose over the first three months of 2024 and were higher than the March [...]

In ahttps://www.barchart.com/story/news/25179641/what-is-the-silver-gold-ratio-saying-about-the-metal-prices on silver dated April 1, I drew attention to the falling silver-gold ratio, a bullish signal for silver, known for its volatility and speculative nature among precious metals. [...]

In a January 12, 2024, https://www.barchart.com/news/authors/91/andrew-hecht on the energy sector in 2023, I wrote: Time will tell if the commodity asset class’s energy sector moves from laggard in 2023 to [...]

I asked if 2024 would be another golden year for the leading precious metal in a https://www.barchart.com/story/news/23069657/gold-will-2024-be-another-golden-year. After recapping the price action in 2023, I wrote: Gold closed 2023 at [...]

Cocoa moved from a bullish trend to a parabolic explosive rally in 2024. In a https://www.barchart.com/story/news/23968278/cocoa-a-bullish-beast-how-far-can-the-rally-go, I asked How Far Can the Rally Go? In that piece, I wrote: There [...]

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange attempted to increase liquidity in the lumber futures arena by replacing the random-length lumber contract with a physical contract. The new lumber futures offer smaller contracts [...]

In a https://www.barchart.com/story/news/23569487/cryptos-why-did-spot-bitcoin-etf-approval-cause-prices-to-decline, I highlighted Bitcoin’s buy-the-rumor and sell-the-fact price action after the SEC approved spot Bitcoin ETF products. I wrote: buy-the-rumor sell-the-fact Bitcoin prices had been rallying into the [...]

In a https://www.barchart.com/story/news/23404602/cotton-will-the-2023-loser-be-the-2024-soft-commodity-winner, I asked, “Will the 2023 loser be the 2024 soft commodity winner?” In that piece, I wrote: Will the 2023 loser be the 2024 soft commodity winner? [...]

Copper is an infrastructure building block. China is the leading copper consumer, and the weakness in the Chinese economy has weighed on copper since the red metal reached a record [...]

On January 9, 2024, in a Barchart article that asked if U.S. natural gas futures can continue to rally in 2024, I wrote: Natural gas is going into 2024 in [...]