The current price of key market indexes

[Value Buy]

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January 21st 2011 quotes................December 31st 2019 quotes

Dow 11,871 ......................................28,538.44
Nasdaq 2689.....................................8,972.60
S&P 500 1283....................................3,230.78
Crude $89.19 per barrel ....................$61.14 a barrel
Gasoline $2.463 per gallon.................$1.6902 per gallon
Natural gas $4.71 per therm .............$2.182 per therm
Gold $1,341 an oz ..............................$1520.30 an oz
Silver $27.45 an oz. ........................... $17.915 an oz
copper $4.31 per lb ........................ $2.798 per lb
Euro $1.3616 .................................... $1.1214
Corn $6.57 per bushel ......................$387.25 per contract

Since I started the thread with January numbers i 2011, until December 31st.
Quite a run for the stock markets, and as you can see commodities can go way up and way down over the months and years.

[Value Buy]

Over the years, I have done a thread on key commodities on the P&M board concerning commodities and the potential effect on the stock market and national politics.
I think it has potential over here on this board, due to the members who are active traders/investors, so I am bringing it here for your thoughts.
Everyone should feel free to update commodity prices or add graphs of anything they feel interested in, to the mix, and please add to the conversation of how this will effect our economy going forward as well as your investment strategy based on the markets.
Thanks

[yclept]

I, for one, would appreciate seeing your commodity tracks on this board. I'll try to remember to check the other board as well.
I think the most important of them all from the standpoint of world economy and further potential political chaos is food -- represented by corn in your tracks.
In the developed countries we need devote only a small portion of our income to food, and thus when it spikes 6% in a month (as represented by your corn numbers) it represents a small increase in our overall cost of living. In much of the third world, the cost of food takes upwards of 50% of a consumers income. For a person in that situation a 6% increase in food cost represents a much higher increase in their cost of living, and an increase in income that probably cannot be attained. And yet it is not a commodity that can be substituted for or cut back beyond a certain level.
If the price of gasoline gets too high, one can go fewer places, use cheaper modes of transit (Walk? -- Still free everyplace I know of!), combine trips, etc. If home heating gets too expensive, one can wear heavier clothes. If your belly is growling, all you can do is eat.

[ModE98]

VB .... Yes, bring it on ... Commodities are very appropriate on this board (sans politics).

[Value Buy]

Feb 24, 2011 12:55:35 GMT -5 @yclept said:

I, for one, would appreciate seeing your commodity tracks on this board. I'll try to remember to check the other board as well.
I think the most important of them all from the standpoint of world economy and further potential political chaos is food -- represented by corn in your tracks.
In the developed countries we need devote only a small portion of our income to food, and thus when it spikes 6% in a month (as represented by your corn numbers) it represents a small increase in our overall cost of living. In much of the third world, the cost of food takes upwards of 50% of a consumers income. For a person in that situation a 6% increase in food cost represents a much higher increase in their cost of living, and an increase in income that probably cannot be attained. And yet it is not a commodity that can be substituted for or cut back beyond a certain level.
If the price of gasoline gets too high, one can go fewer places, use cheaper modes of transit (Walk? -- Still free everyplace I know of!), combine trips, etc. If home heating gets too expensive, one can wear heavier clothes. If your belly is growling, all you can do is eat.

Corn is interesting as a "food commodity", ie, feed for cattle, etc, but due to ethanol, it is also important to the energy trade as well.
Wheat might be a more pure food commodity play.
Copper interests me as a production metal representing the health of the world economy, but with China scooping up everything is sight, hard to figure out if the world economy is turning up, or just China's.
Always have to track the Euro to watch Europe's progress, or lack there of, but the Europeans seem hell bent on keeping it propped up, even with half of Europe now basically bankrupt.
Interesting times we live in.......
So much potential money to be made....or lost.......

[Deleted]

realtime "The current price of key commodities"
finviz.com/futures.ashx

[Bluerobin]

Just today, I was thinking of selling scrap silver, until I checked the prices on some of the coins. One local dealer is paying $20 per dollar of face value. When I checked, dimes, each one was worth a few bucks. Now, I am thinking of holding.
Info like the above is definitely welcome here.

[runewell]

Feb 24, 2011 11:22:55 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
January 21st prices..............................February 23rd prices

Dow 11,871 ......................................12,105
Nasdaq 2689.....................................2723
S&P 500 1283....................................1307
Crude $89.19 per barrel ....................$98.87 a barrel
Gasoline $2.463 per gallon.................$2.90 per gallon
Natural gas $4.71 per therm .............$3.94 per therm
Gold $1,341 an oz ..............................$1410 an oz
Silver $27.45 an oz. ........................... $33.38 an oz
copper $4.31 per lb ........................ $4.32 per lb
Euro $1.3616 .................................... $1.3779
Corn $6.57 per bushel ......................$6.99 per bushel

Considering all the turmoil in the last two weeks, we still look good compared to January 21st numbers, but oil and gas will crush us if it continues upward.

Read more: notmsnmoney.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=politics&action=display&thread=129#ixzz1EtUa2n4X

It's not just gas and oil, it's also gold and silver and corn, and probably a lot of other things. We are getting poorer, FYI and thanks to the middle east situation I'm sure the indices are down a bit and I imagine oil is over $100 now.

[rovo]

ValueBuy, I look forward to your updates on commodities as it is an under represented segment on this board.

Political arguments will not be tolerated here.

[Value Buy]

Feb 24, 2011 16:46:17 GMT -5 rovo said:

ValueBuy, I look forward to your updates on commodities as it is an under represented segment on this board.

Political arguments will not be tolerated here.

Rovo, if this comment is for me, it is not necessary.
When I mention "turmoil" I am referring to Middle East tensions, riots, etc, that affect our commodity markets and pocketbooks.
I will leave this country's political response, or lack of one, as in a true energy program, etc, at P&M where it belongs.

[rovo]

Value Buy, Nope. The message was not directed at anyone in particular. I know there are many lurkers on this board and I just wanted to make it clear that this board will not turn into a political forum. Geopolitics greatly affect commodity prices and can not be totally divorced from discussions but we should dwell on the prices and thoughts for price changes.

[Value Buy]

March 2nd pricing
Dow 12066
Nasdaq 2748
S&P 500 1308.44
Gasoline $3.0295
Natural gas $3.818
Gold $1437.70 an oz
Silver $34.825 an oz
Copper $4.48 lb
Corn 7.2150
Euro $138.65
10 year Treasury $101.281
Since February 23rd, not much has happened outside of rising commodity prices. Stock market is better than I would have thought-I expected a bigger fall in stocks.
I am perplexed by the Euro. I just do not understand it's strength against the dollar. Europe has as bad of a financial crisis, if not worse than we face, and they are even more held hostage to the price of oil than we are, due to pricing of Brent crude.
Pundits have suggested the soft commodities (food) and copper, might sell off in favor of higher
metal and oil futures, but so far copper is holding strong.

[Value Buy]

Today's prices at 2;:20pm
Dow 12179
Nasdaq 2735
S&P 500 1309
Gasoline $3.047
Natural gas $4.247
Gold $1428 an oz
Silver $37.27 an oz
Copper $4.42 lb
Corn 7.025
Euro $1.418
10 year Treasury $101.78

[Value Buy]

Three weeks have passed, and the numbers have not changed much except for Oil, natural gas, Silver and the Euro on the upside, and corn lower, but the prices have been all over the board, with plenty of opportunities to make money on trades....
Considering everything that has happened in the world, everything is back to "normal", whatever that is..........
I think silver will climb to over $40, but I am confused about natural gas. Why is it climbing now? Heating season is winding down, and it is going up?
Surely, no one believes we will be closing down nuclear electric plants, replacing them with natural gas plants, do they?
Corn? Where is it headed, down or up? Any thoughts?

[verrip1]

If you look at NG price over the last 3 years (I use UNG as a proxy), the price has been driven really low. I won't pretend I know why, I just know that it is. But the price can really only go so low, and perhaps we hit the low in early March and are starting a recovery (do a 3 month or YTD chart).

NG is a viable energy source. Quite available from production here in the US. Less explosive than hydrogen. Proven for use in powering vehicles. A lot of pipelines already in use. Fewer emissions than from coal, gasoline or diesel. Lots of reasons that its use may well increase in the US.

[soycapital]

I think this would be a good time to increase exposure to the natural gas sector. I believe it will be used more and more. I have a few natural gas picks in my portfolio but I'm looking for some new ones. Any ideas?

[soycapital]

Thought I'd put up a list of equities I own that have exposure to NG: XOM, PMGYF, SE, CVX, BIP. These have all run up a bit the last few months, not sure I'd want to be putting new money into these except perhaps PMGYF, it's a small cap and probably has plenty of room to run so to speak.

[Value Buy]

Mar 26, 2011 13:38:24 GMT -5 Ratchets said:

This is a very interesting thread. For me, the two things that stand out are the price of copper and natural gas. 20 years ago I did a lot of...how to phrase it...salvage work I guess. There was an area where folks would appliances, building materials and such near our house, so I would strip the copper and aluminum out of them. I remember very distinctly that I would get paid .60-.80 lb for copper. I thought I hit paydirt one day when I found about a whole truckoad of house wiring, but it turned out to be aluminum...still was worth about .30 lb if I remember right. The ironic thing is that it was stuck to a bunch of charred 2 x 4's...maybe the cheap wiring was what burned the structure down? Anyway, pretty dramatic increase for copper, so no wonder you here so many stories of folks stealing it from construction sites and such.

For natural gas, I'm surprised it isn't pinned more closely to the price of oil. I'm certainly no expert on oil drilling methods, but I was under the impression that NG is usually found in the same areas and is more or less a byproduct of drilling for oil. Maybe that is why it went down though, as oil goes higher more wells are put into production which creates a glut of NG? I don't know...if anybody does I'd be interested in a summary though.

Ratchets, we are flooded with natural gas in the states right now. They are using a term call "fracking" literally breaking the underground rock releasing natural gas. They do this by pumping water under high pressure into the rock layer. I do not believe it is good for the enironment, but it does produce a lot of N.G.
And this is actually happening in what is considered old and/or abandoned gas fields, thereby increasing production as well as estimated reserves.

[tyfighter3]

Plus with Fracking, when a well runs dry, all they do is to drill another 500 feet and refrack it and you now have a NEW well producing again in the same hole.

[dothedd]

Dangers of fracking go beyond poisoned water supplies and earthquakes

Posted Tue, 22 Mar 2011

www.earthtimes.org/energy/dangers-hydraulic-fracturing-poisoned-water-supplies-earthquakes/552/

TY ... K4U

[tyfighter3]

Dot, nothing you do in life is perfect. All you can do is to try and do it better. K for You to.

[dothedd]

Ty,

IMO there have always been alternative energy resources that have not been pursued because of deals made by powerful entities that profited from foreign oil.

It would be interesting to know how many inventions made it off the drawing boards that were bought-up and shelved by big industry; such is the way of the world.

I can think of one, but need to find my research before posting it.

Have a good evening ...

DTDD

[dothedd]

Feb 24, 2011 13:53:57 GMT -5 @majeasy said:

realtime "The current price of key commodities"
finviz.com/futures.ashx

Thanks, GREAT LINK!

K4U

[Value Buy]

January 23rd ..............................March 31st end of quarter

Dow 11,871 .............................Dow 12,319
Nasdaq 2689 .............................Nasdaq 2,781
S&P 500 1283 ...........................S&P 1325
Crude $89.19 per barrel.............Oil $107.31
Gasoline $2.463 per gallon.........Gasoline $3.11
Natural gas $4.71 per therm.......Natural gas$4.374
Gold $1,341 an oz.......................Gold $1,431.70
Silver $27.45 an oz. ...................Silver $36.11
copper $4.31 per lb ...................copper $4.3035
Ten year bond $94.953...............Ten year $101.312
Euro $1.3616 .............................Euro $1.4157
Corn $6.57 per bushel ...............Corn $7.30

Imust have a bad number for January on the 10 year bond. Will try to find the correct number later

Stocks are up from January 1st, but nothing like the commodities. Even so, it was a stellar performance for stocks in the last three months.
Commodities are on a rampage.
Inflation will be raising it's ugly head to the consumer this summer and fall.
Retail gasoline will be above the $4 a gallon level, hurting the economic recovery. Food prices will climb, by 8 to10% within the next 12 months,imo, hurting the consumer and damaging the restaurant and leisure industry.
I still think we have another good month in April for stocks, then we will take a breather in May.
Until the oil/gasoline complex starts falling, I would expect commodities to beat out stocks on the level of gains.

Any Thoughts?

[Value Buy]

JANUARY 21 ST PRICES............ APRIL21st

Dow 11,871 .............................Dow 12,506
Nasdaq 2689 .............................Nasdaq 2,820
S&P 500 1283 ...........................S&P 1337
Crude $89.19 per barrel.............Oil $112.29
Gasoline $2.463 per gallon.........Gasoline $3.27
Natural gas $4.71 per therm.......Natural gas$4.54
Gold $1,341 an oz.......................Gold $1,503.80
Silver $27.45 an oz. ...................Silver $46.08
copper $4.31 per lb ...................copper $4.42
Ten year bond $94.953...............Ten year $101.84
Euro $1.3616 ..............................Euro $1.455
Corn $6.57 per bushel ................Corn $7.445
let's add the Canadian dollar..... $1.0496
Gold is still climbing, but silver is riding a rocket.
The dollar continues to decline in value setting almost all commodities on fire.
Gasoline is outpacing crude oil, but both will crater the consumer this summer.
Right now, commodities are not hurting the stock market, possibly because maufacturers are able to pass on cost increases to the consumer, but I think that will stop when the consumer finally shuts down in late May.
There does seem to be some positive movement on the employment front, so we will have to wait and see, if spending will not be cut back as much as I think it will be.
I like silver to continue it's climb, to mid fifties to low sixties.

[Value Buy]

Today's index prices
Dow 12,684
Nasdaq 2843
S&P 500 1346
Gold $1510.50 oz
Silver $37.74 an oz
Copper $4.05
Oil $101.8 barrel
Gasoline $3.28 gallon
Natural gas $4.24
Corn
$704.50 bushel
10 yr treasury $103.91
Euro $143.74
Canadian dollar $ 103.78

What a difference a weekend makes in commodities.
My feeling is oil and gas will decline from here. The question is" how much? I'm thinking low nineties for oil, this month. More after that if the dollar strengthens.
I also look for food commodities to drop, as I see the dollar gaining strength this late spring against the Euro. Canadian dollar will go to parity with the dollar, but stay around a dollar.
If the dolllar does strengthen gold should fall, but I look for Europe to buy bullion, if the Euro falls, or even breaks up due to Mediteranean countries money problems. I do not see Germany and Belgium, etc, continueing to bail out Greece, Italy and the other members who are now hurting bigtime economically.
Gold, may not fall as much as it should if Europe buys the bullion.
Silver, is the one I cannot figure out, but with higher minimum requirements for traders trading on margin could hurt oil and metal markets......
Now if I only had a few spare millions, to play with right now...................
Thoughts?

Oh, and corn----if the farmers do not get the planting in real soon, corn could be a big price swing upwards, blowing my thoughts on it, out of the Missisippi floodwaters situation.
I live in northern Indiana, and the farmers are a week or two behind the last few years due to wet and cold weather. Southern Indiana is behind due to very wet conditions, but get an extra week or two in the fall to recover. Could affect bushel production 3 to 6 bushels per acre here.

[Value Buy]

Metals continue their retreat
Oil and gasoline continue their retreat
Big cap tech continue their retreat.
Big banks not gong anywhere
What's left to stay up?
Utilities?

[Value Buy]

Today's index prices, May 19TH
Dow 12,605
Nasdaq 2823
S&P 500 1343
Gold $1495 oz
Silver $35.11 an oz
Copper $4.07
Oil $99.43 barrel
Gasoline $3.04 gallon
Natural gas $4.18
Corn $7.51 bushel
10 yr treasury $99.59 (Not sure if correct?) down from $103.91 on 5/9/11
Euro $143.16
Canadian dollar $ 103.47

Markets have been whacky the last week or so, but everything is pretty much as it was.
Oil and metals are weaker, soft commodities, food very strong, currencies about even and the stock markets are down slightly.
Higher margin numbers did in metals and oil complex.
Corn on fire, and will go up more. Cold and wet weather is going to hurt the number of acres allotted for it, but farmers should go with soybeans, as smaller growing season is required.
Can anyone tell me if the ten year number is actually correct? Why under $100?
Stocks are wonky right now. Big swings in prices, some of you who trade daily here, or at least set up buy and sell orders, have to be making a killing on the spreads right now.
Are we going to see a June swoon this year? The old quote, "sell in May and go away", is looking like it might be the right call this year.

[Value Buy]

Today's index prices, May 31st
Dow 12,569
Nasdaq 2835
S&P 500 1345
Gold $1532 oz
Silver $38.05 an oz
Copper $4.17
Oil $102.98 barrel
Gasoline $3.05 gallon
Natural gas $4.66
Corn $7.53 bushel
10 yr treasury $100.53
Euro $144.4467
Canadian dollar $ 103.40

With the dollar weakening over the weekend, over of all things, Greece settling down, (even though it will probably default) the fuel markets are hot again, but not as much as the gold/silver complex.
Natural gas is climbing based on speculation of hot temperatures kicking in utility useage for electricity, which is speculation at the exchange. There is so much natural gas out there, that this country will not run out of it in our children's lifetime, and they are finding more all the time.....
Right now the sell in May and stay away theory for stocks is alive and well.

[Value Buy]

Very bad day for me today. All ten stock positions in the red.
JCI, JPM and Exxon took my largest hits, but my only utility was also a victim today.

Commodities down also except for gold, and I would assume that is part of the reason stocks were so bad today.
That and the fact they are admitting everything is bad these days.........