What’s Increasing Energy Today
The day has finally arrived.
Hans Blix and his team of UN weapons inspectors are in Baghdad, to begin the
long-awaited task of looking for lethal weapons sites. This, coupled with the
recent cold front on the East Coast of the United States, has the energies
trading stronger on the day.
Crude oil for January delivery
(
CLF3 |
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PowerRating) rallied up 1.09 or 3.93% to $25.80 a barrel. Jan. heating oil
(
HOF3 |
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gasoline
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HUF3 |
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Jan. natural gas
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NGF3 |
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a strong day after yesterday’s 6 to 10 day forecast called for below average
temperatures in the eastern half of the U.S. New England got hit with freezing
rain and snow overnight. NGF3 surged up .28 or 6.89% to 4.37.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures
fell for the first day in
three after Wal-Mart Stores
(
WMT |
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most optimistic forecast, sparking concern consumer spending may slow. In
addition, financial shares slid after Fannie Mae said its growth slowed last
month and CBS’s “60 Minutes” reported UnumProvident, the largest U.S.
disability insurer, denied legitimate claims in order to cut costs. AT&T
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T |
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dropped after a Lehman Brothers analyst discouraged investors from buying the
stock.
The Dec.Standard & Poor’s 500 futures
(
SPZ2 |
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the S&P 500 Index
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The Dec. Nasdaq 100
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$NDX.X |
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dropped 16.50, or 1.2%, to 1050.
In the Treasuries, the Dec. 10-year note
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TYZ2 |
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UAZ2 |
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rose .46 to 111.53.
Last week’s export inspections were strong again
for soybeans at 40.2 million bushels. Wheat inspections were as expected, but
corn inspections continued to drag, at 28.1 million bushels.
At the Chicago Board Of Trade (CBOT)
March wheat futures
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WH3 |
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1/2 cents or 1.95% to $3.78 a bushel. Wheat fell despite news that the USDA
bought 55,000 tons of wheat for Ethiopia.
Jan. soybeans
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SF3 |
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3 1/4 cents to $5.66 a bushel and
March
corn
(
CH3 |
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SMZ2 |
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In the metals,
an article in the Financial Times explained that
with interest rates so low now, hedging is no longer profitable for gold
producers, thus taking away a major source of selling pressure.
Dec. gold
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GCZ2 |
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dropped 1.50 to $319.39 a troy ounce.
Dec. silver
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SIZ2 |
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(
HGZ2 |
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72.79 after this weekend’s edition of Barron’s spotlighted the commodity as
holding up pretty well in the face of weak economic news.
Over the weekend, thousands of immigrant workers
from neighboring countries were fleeing the Ivory Coast, in fear of hostilities
from government soldiers. This sparked a positive move to the upside for
March cocoa
(
CCH3 |
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PowerRating) which has been in a downtrend for the past couple of
weeks. CCH3 closed at $1,751 up $28 or 1.63%.