Ben Bernanke Named Next Fed Chairman
President George W. Bush today named
Ben Bernanke, chief White House economist, as successor to Federal Reserve
chairman Alan Greenspan, whose term is set to expire at the end of
January after leading the Fed for 18 years (full
story).
After the news broke; the dollar rallied on expectations he
will maintain the current “measured” approach to interest rates. However,
treasuries sold off on concerns he will be soft on inflation.
Oil and gas futures continued to decline as hurricane Wilma
passed without causing major damage to rigs and platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
The storm made landfall in south Florida as a category-3 hurricane and drove the
price of orange juice futures sharply higher.
Crude oil is now more than 15% below its all-time high set in
August, while gasoline hit a 4-month low today. The move higher in OJ set
another new contract high.
TradingMarkets Commodities Watch List
| Commodity (Symbol) |
Price | Price Change | % Change |
|
Energies |
|||
| Crude Oil (CL) | 60.32 | -0.31 |
-0.51 |
| Heating Oil (HO) | 185.00 | -4.97 |
-2.62 |
| Unleaded Gas (HU) | 164.00 | -3.37 |
-2.01 |
| Natural Gas (NG) | 13.15 | -0.02 |
-0.13 |
|
Metals |
|||
| Gold (GC) | 467.00 | -2.10 |
-0.45 |
| Silver (SI) | 770.80 | +1.30 |
+0.17 |
| Copper (HG) | 178.45 | -0.85 |
-0.47 |
|
Grains |
|||
|
Corn (C) |
199.25 | -1.75 |
-0.87 |
| Wheat (W) | 333.25 | -5.25 |
-1.60 |
| Soybeans (S) | 587.50 | +3.00 |
+0.51 |
|
Softs |
|||
| Sugar (SB) | 11.63 | -0.17 |
-1.44 |
| Coffee (KC) | 103.15 | -0.30 |
-0.29 |
| Cocoa (CC) | 1408.00 | +42.00 |
+3.07 |
| Frozen Orange Juice (JO) | 114.40 | +4.15 |
+3.76 |
| Cotton (CT) | 54.03 | -0.46 |
-0.84 |
| Lumber (LB) | 289.90 | -3.60 |
-1.23 |
|
Livestock |
|||
| Lean Hogs (LH) | 60.95 | +0.18 |
+0.29 |
| Live Cattle (LC) | 90.00 | +0.08 |
+0.08 |
Economic News
No economic news today.
Ashton Dorkins