| 'MAD' JIM CRAMER LOSES GOLDEN $50K BET
The host of CNBC's "Mad Money" now owes $50,000 after losing one of the worst wagers of his entire career to rival trading wiz Eric Bolling. Cramer, who favors the phrase "Boo Ya," made an on-air bet with Bolling about a year ago that financial services would be the hottest sector of 2007. Bolling, a former trader at the New York Mercantile Exchange, placed his money on oil and gold. Investors who took Cramer's advice would have taken a 30 percent hit to their portfolios as the stocks of financial titans such as Citigroup and Merrill Lynch got hammered by the mortgage crisis. On the other hand, investors savvy enough to follow Bolling's bet on gold and oil would have hit the jackpot, as the hot commodities jumped over 60 percent in the same period. Cramer, through a spokesman, blamed his loss on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's failure to cut interest rates more aggressively.
Asian stocks up on rate cut hopes; commodities hot
SINGAPORE: Stocks rallied on Thursday as solid earnings and expectations of further US interest rate cuts outweighed worries about inflation even as oil hit a record high above $101 a barrel. Gold also hit a record above $945 an ounce, and silver touched a 27-year high, as funds poured into a wide range of commodities, betting they will outperform in an environment where growth is slowing and prices are rising.
Data on Wednesday showed a faster-than-expected rise in US consumer prices last month and further weakness in the housing market there.
"The US is entirely focused on the economic data that is coming out and we're getting revised forecasts for their economic growth in the downward trend," said Savanth Sebastian, equities economist at CommSec in Sydney.
London robusta coffee hits 9-year high
London robusta coffee futures hit a nine-and-a-half-year high and cocoa reached a four-year peak on Friday on a wave of enthusiasm among investment funds for all sorts of commodities. Reallocation of investments for the New Year has already seen several basic resource prices, including gold and oil, hit record highs this month and soft commodities such as coffee and cocoa have been tipped as a good bet for the year ahead. "Funds are increasing their holding in both commodities at the moment. It is not an overnight thing, I think it has been building for some time," soft commodities trader Jeff Cooper of Ambrian Commodities said. .
Citigroup, GM Slide; Xerox Rises
As Citigroup and General Motors helped push the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its lowest close since mid-August, investors turned to EchoStar Communications amid the prospect of the satellite-TV provider's being purchased. "Goldman predicting additional steep subprime write-downs for big U.S. brokerages, including Citigroup, and Chinese officials telling their domestic banks to freeze lending through year end raised deep concerns about the sustainability of global growth," said Robbert van Batenburg, head of trading research at Louis Capital Markets. "As a result, there was broad selling, with financials bearing much of the brunt. But commodities and industrials that had been holding ... .
Platinum Hits Record High Yet Again; Wheat Also Jumps To All-Time High
Platinum hit record highs for a third straight session on Monday amid output woes in South Africa and inflation from pricier oil. Wheat also peaked for a third day running on heavy speculative buying. Copper prices ended up but off their highs after a large earthquake in Chile, the world's biggest producer of copper and home to a wide array of industrial metal deposits. Leading commodity indexes such as the Reuters-Jefferies CRB, S&P GSCI and Dow Jones-AIG all rose about 1% each. Fundamentals aside, investors were drawn to commodities after Wall Street stocks slid on uninspiring U.S. factory orders for December which came in below expectations but not weak enough to spark a broad market shake-up. A weaker U.S. dollar against the euro also bolstered the case for buying inflation-sensitive commodities, particularly precious metals like gold and platinum.
American Stock Exchange Lists GreenHaven Continuous Commodity Index ...
NEW YORK, Jan. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Stock Exchange(R) (Amex(R)) announced today that it has launched trading in the GreenHaven Continuous Commodity Index Fund (AMEX: GCC) , managed by GreenHaven Commodity Services, LLC. GCC aims to track the performance of the Continuous Commodity Total Return Index, an equal weighted basket of 17 commodities (corn, wheat, soybeans, live cattle, lean hogs, gold, platinum, silver, copper, cocoa, coffee, sugar, cotton, orange juice, crude oil, heating oil and natural gas). Reuters America, LLC owns and calculates the Index. "The American Stock Exchange is pleased to welcome and support GreenHaven as they enter the ETF marketplace," said Scott Ebner, Senior Vice President of the Amex's ETF marketplace. "GCC reflects a growing investor interest in commodity linked products." Ashmead Pringle, President of GreenHaven Commodity Services, LLC, stated, "Increasingly, many investors have concluded that commodities are an asset class that should be represented in a balanced portfolio.
Goldman Sachs reduces '08 base metals forecast, maintains $750 gold
Citing downgrades in global economic activity, Goldman Sachs reduced its 2008 base metals price outlook, advising a stronger U.S. dollar will pressure gold prices lower to an average of $750/oz.RENO, NV Demand concerns and rising supply have convinced Goldman Sachs commodity analysts to forecast a "retrenchment in commodity prices from recent highs, which has already largely occurred." Noting that base metals are most closely related to the industrial cycle with expected global economic activity expected to decline, commodities analysts reduced their 2008 base metals forecasts, but added they "still expect prices to reach historically high levels in some cases by year-end." Nevertheless, Goldman Sachs recommended opening a long timespread position in copper.
DMCC names new Executive Director of Gold and Precious Metals
MacDonald takes over from Colin Griffith, who has held this position for the last four years. This move comes as DMCC works to consolidate the strides the division has made under Griffith and build upon those successes. In his new role at DMCC, spearheading the Gold & Precious Metals division, MacDonald will focus on further enhancing Dubai's role as a global centre for the gold and precious metals trade, through broadening local market horizons in refining, manufacturing and trading skills. He will also oversee business development, strengthen stakeholder relationships and develop new products while promoting best practices in the local and regional markets. MacDonald will also explore and develop DMCC-branded commodities-based investment vehicles to grow DMCC's current footprint in the precious metals sector.
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