Category Archives: Commodities

US warships box in Iranian flotilla – Debka

Posted on February 21, 2011 by macromon

Seems like all hell is breaking lose in the Middle East.  Debka is reporting, …Iranian warships found themselves cheek to jowl with a major concentration of America naval might piling up in the Red Sea and Suez and were not … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Crude Oil, Geopolitical | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Global Pain of Rising Food Prices

Posted on February 15, 2011 by macromon

We found some excellent data from a March 2010 USDA report on cross-country food expenditures and to no surprise lower income countries are getting slammed by the recent price spike.  The table is fairly self-explanatory showing the proportion of expenditures … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Economics, Geopolitical, Policy, Politics | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Trend Reversal in Apparel Prices?

Posted on February 14, 2011 by macromon

Good piece in the USA Today about the headwinds the clothing industry is facing and the  expected reversal of the almost 20-year decline in apparel prices. The USA Today/AP reports, Clothing prices have dropped for a decade as tame inflation … Continue reading →

Posted in BRICs, Charts, China, Commodities, Economics, Technology | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Deep US-Saudi rift over Egypt – Debka

Posted on February 10, 2011 by macromon

Another must read from Debka.  These guys give a good inside scoop of what’s happening and explains why Mubarak is not stepping down and it’s not good, The conversation between President Barack Obama and Saudi King Abdullah early Thursday, Feb. … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Crude Oil, Egypt, Energy, Geopolitical, Gold | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Sarkozy and G20 to Crackdown on Food Specs

Posted on February 10, 2011 by macromon

The following is an excerpt from the recently released European Commission report on commodity derivatives   The two charts, from the St. Louis Fed,  illustrate the parabolic rise in Commodity Index-Funds  over the past 8 years and the huge increase … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Crude Oil, Food Prices, Policy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Real Gas Prices Approaching 1918 Peak

Posted on February 8, 2011 by macromon

Yes, 1918!  This is one incredible chart from the American Petroleum Institute illustrating the secular decline in real gas prices for the past century with episodes of periodic price spikes, which lasted a decade or so. So what was it … Continue reading →

Posted in BRICs, Charts, China, Commodities, Crude Oil, Monetary Policy, Real Estate | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Peru’s Meltdown

Posted on February 7, 2011 by macromon

A  good friend from the hedge fund community and one of the best economists to have ever worked in the financial markets, and who also happens to be from Peru sent over a piece on the Andean glacier melt from … Continue reading →

Posted in Clean Tech, Commodities, Economics, Food Prices, Geopolitical, Policy, Politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Crude Top 15

Posted on February 2, 2011 by macromon

The following “Top 15 tables” from the E.I.A. provide a comprehensive geopolitical perspective of the crude oil market.  You can see who is benefiting and who is taking pain from the increase in crude oil prices.   The data are from … Continue reading →

Posted in Charts, Commodities, Crude Oil, Geopolitical | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

How U.S. Income Groups Get Squeezed By Food Prices

Posted on February 2, 2011 by macromon

Take a look at the chart we’ve constructed from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics 2009 Consumer Expenditure Survey.  It conveys a sense of how Egypt’s poverty combined with the sharp rise in food prices sparked the political revolt against … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Demographics, Food Prices | Tagged , | 13 Comments

Nonlinear Thinking: Egypt Needs Hydroponics

Posted on February 1, 2011 by macromon

The world seems caught in a race between a dark age Malthusian struggle for resources and a technological revolution producing advances which will help resolve the conflict of the world’s growing population and diminishing resources. Both have collided and pushed … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Food Prices, Nonlinear Thinking | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments