7. Stanley Cup Index: What happened to the holy grail? Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks on their awesome win last night! I must admit I was very excited watching the most amazing finish I have ever seen in hockey, but as a commodity lady my first thought was about the metal in the Stanley Cup and what is it worth, especially given the current environment of a strengthening U.S. dollar and rising U.S. bond yields. From the economic backdrop, silver and nickel, the two metals that form the cup, are the worst performing metals in their respective Read more […]
6. Not ALL Weights are EQUAL: Why Brent isn’t Heavier than WTI 2014 is just around the corner now and the new weights for both the DJ-UBS CI and S&P GSCI have been announced. While the index weightings follow the methodologies, there are questions around the weights of two particular commodities, Brent crude oil and WTI crude oil. The interest comes from the fact that they are the most heavily weighted commodities across the two indices and there has historically been a popular spread trade between the two, since theoretically they should trade similarly Read more […]
5. Skipping Dessert?! Coffee, Sugar, Cocoa OR Bear, Bear, Bull Sorry, grains and meats, you are not one of the four main food groups. Since this is the case, eating may have just become more expensive, especially for the high-end chocolate lover. Not me of course… but once again, as a commodity lady, when I consume goods (or goodies) and notice that prices are increasing or decreasing I think about the prices of the raw materials and how the indices are impacted. I have noticed the price of chocolate increasing, so decided a deeper dive into the softs Read more […]
4. Where’s the Beef? While I was eating at a well-known restaurant chain, I saw this sign in the front window: So of course as a commodity lady my mind doesn’t think about choices like chicken or veggies, but I wonder what happened to the price of beef in the shortage and why is there a shortage? The S&P GSCI All Cattle, which includes both the S&P GSCI Feeder Cattle and Live Cattle, has gained 4.4% since the end of May, after losing 8.6% from the beginning of the year. See the monthly returns in Read more […]