Two Beneficiaries Of This Uncertainty…
The concerns over Iraq
continue, and the two commodities that benefited today on continued
uncertainty were gold and oil. Crude oil rose higher this week with
increasing tensions between Iraq and the U.S. In addition OPEC may restrain
production and this is also supporting prices. Jan. crude oil
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rose .42 or 1.59% to $26.76 a
barrel.
In the first nine months of 2002, Canada’s
natural gas sales were up 3.2% from a year ago. Jan. natural gas is steady to
lower with most of the U.S. facing below-average temperatures in the upcoming
week. Jan. natural gas
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climbed 1.81 cents or 2.43% 76.29 cents a gallon and Jan. unleaded
gasoline
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gallon.
The World Gold Council said that gold demand was
down 7% in the third quarter from a year ago and was down 12% so far this year.
This is actually an improvement from being down 14% in the first half of the
year. In Japan, consumer demand for gold is up 42% from 2001.
Dec. gold
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attempted to break the 321.00 resistance level, but ended just below this key
resistance level at $320.89 a troy ounce, a gain of $3.29.Today’s
rally was sparked by concerns about Iraq.
Dec. silver
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or 2.50% to $4.535 an ounce Dec. copper
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lower by .25 of a cent to 73.70 a pound.
It is healthy to pull back
after a big move, and that just what the broader index futures did today.
The broad market slipped as investors cashed
in after a two-day rally but technology stocks inched higher, sending the Nasdaq
Composite index to its highest close in more than five months. The Dec. Standard & Poor’s 500 futures
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Treasuries
fell for a second week in a row The Dec. 10-year note
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fell – 065 to 112 210 and the Dec. 30 year bond
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to 109 ’28.
With the corn and soybeans harvests winding down,
Brazil’s soybean planting progressed to 66% this week, just slightly behind the
normal pace.
At the Chicago Board Of Trade (CBOT),
Jan. soybeans
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before closing positive at $5.72 a bushel, a gain of 2.50 cents.
Dec. soy meal
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March
corn
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March wheat futures
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to end at $3.76 a bushel.
The International Coffee Organization said that
2002-2003 world coffee production totaled 119 million 60-kg. bags, up from 110
million bags the previous year. This is less than the 122 million bags of
production that the USDA estimated back in June. March coffee
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March cocoa
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The USDA estimated that beef production will total 516.5 million pounds this
week, up 3.2% from last week. Pork production is estimated at 402.5 million
pounds, up 1.6% from last week. Dec. hogs
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45.14, near contract highs.