I have recieved a number of calls from reporters asking about "speculators running up commodity prices." The calls tell me the mini-boom is about over. The Commodity Index Traders long positions were reduced by 70% between February 2008 and February 2009. They have rebounded with commodity prices and currently stand at $116 billion. This is just [...]

David Chow in the Washington Post has dug up some figures on the involvement of Sovereign funds in commodity indexing. He states that the funds involved did not originate from commodity profits (e.g. Middle Eastern sovereign funds reinvesting oil profits). Since the bulk of Sovereign funds originate from commodity profits of one type or another, [...]

The debate over the cause of record high commodity prices rages through Congress and the media, not to mention high-fuel-price demonstrations and food riots reported in dozens of countries. Unfortunately, this debate has generated more heat than light. Fundamental “supply imbalances,” “Chinese and Indian demand,” and “the plummeting dollar” [...]

Barron’s Online             Monday, June 30, 2008
ECONOMIC BEAT   A Simple Old Reg That Needs Dusting Off By GENE EPSTEIN Fixing the inflation problem.
IN ITS STATEMENT ACCOMPANYING ITS DECISION last week to leave the short-term interest rate unchanged, the Federal Open Market [...]

On June 26, 2008 the Commodity Futures Trading Commission posted an ominous "CFTC Emergency Authority Background" on its website. I have to tell you that if this is meant to "telegraph" their intentions, it would not likely be positive for commodity markets in general, and petroleum markets in particular. In my humble opinion, this action [...]

The New York Times reported that the CFTC is set to announce new policies on Monday, June 2. There are no details available, except that the Commission is not expected to enact sweeping changes recommended by me and others. Read the Times article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/31/business/31cftc.html 
This announcement does have market-moving potential if it is perceived as [...]

"The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) today announced a number of initiatives to increase transparency of the energy futures markets. You can read their statement here: http://www.cftc.gov/newsroom /generalpressreleases/2008 /pr5503-08.html , but don’t get too excited. I counted 5 occurrences of the word transparency, plus a "bringing [...]

On April 22, the CFTC is holding a roundtable regarding problems caused by overspeculation in ag futures markets. Here is the list of invited participants.
Release: 5486-08 For Release: April 15, 2008
Provides Various Ways to Access the Public Forum
Washington, DC – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today [...]

By Gene Epstein
CHINA, AS EVERYONE KNOWS, IS A BIG FORCE IN THE extraordinary boom in commodities. Its voracious appetite for everything from corn and wheat to copper and oil has helped push up U.S. commodities prices by some 50% over the past 12 months.
But China is by no means the whole story. [...]

I spent the better part of 2 weeks working with Gene Epstein on his cover story on the commodity bull markets. Obviously most of the material gets cut. Rightfully so, I am sure. There are a couple of points about the commodity bull markets that I think were missed. Here is the link, although you [...]