The last trade for the front month crude contract is today, and strange price fluctuations have often been cited as the contract nears closing.  Today oil is down over $2, in the past this kind of change might have been explained by traders going long and being forced out of their trade so as t ... Read more

| Peter Klein | Minnesota engineering professor David Levinson (via Mankiw ), on the “shovel-ready” criterion for stimulus spending: In the 1930s, when you were literally building with shovels, that might have made sense. That was largely unskilled labor. Today, it’s blue collar ... Read ... Read more

Sit back. Take a deep breath. Breathe.  If you are an investor who is long assets, a business person, or a citizen of the free world, it has been a long, traumatic week. We don't need to rehash what happened. We don't need to go into long winded explanations of what is causing it and/or ... Read more

The month of July has witnessed a precipitous decline in the price of natural gas that has many wondering if prices ever move anywhere other than down.  But the pace and scope of the selloff has had the same effect on the market as a natural forest fire can have on the long term health of the ... Read more

On May 2nd, our client newsletter advised selling put options in corn based on the outlook for investor jitters over a delayed spring planting (See: Delayed Spring Planting is Opportunity for Corn Bulls 5 2 08 - available free under the newsletter archive section of our website.) In it ... Read more

<b> Introduction </b> We find ourselves in the midst of an economic crisis. Bears abound, growling about a multitude of problems including stagflation, financial failures, rising commodity prices, and capitulation to name a few. These issues are no picnic in the park, but have become so ... Read more

When we first recommended selling puts in the natural gas market this Spring (See Commodities Correction should be opportunity for Natural Gas Bulls, May 24, 2008 at www.OptionSellers.com - Newsletter Archive) natural gas was in a bearish corrective mode and many were questioning the resolve ... Read more

With commodities continuing to take the spotlight in the investment media, it is easy for fundamentally based investors to hone their focus on some of the headline markets such as crude oil, corn or gold. With all the talk of $200 oil, bubbles bursting, or a new use for ethanol, some of the "back ... Read more

Along with the falling dollar, it bears the single most responsibility for the bull market in commodities. It possesses formidable fundamentals as demand for it is at an all time high while production capability is or already has reached its peak.  Traders use it as currency. Terrorists use i ... Read more

It is no secret that energies are in a bull market. Crude oil grabs headlines daily and the price of gasoline at the pump is a favorite subject of local news media around the country (and the globe).  And while the mainstream media loves to blame speculators for high prices (and they could be ... Read more