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Hickey and Walters (Bespoke) submit:
Below we highlight our trading range charts for ten major commodities. For each chart, the green shading represents between two standard deviations above and below the commodity's 50-day moving average. Moves above or below the green shading are considered overbought or oversold. Oil has bounced off of oversold levels in recent days, but it is still closer to the bottom of its trading range than the top. Natural gas, on the other hand, continues to surge higher, and it is now trading well into overbought territory. Gold remains in a strong uptrend, and it is pretty close to the top of its range. Platinum really sold off sharply when equity markets took their dive, and it is just now starting to recover. Silver is just about in the middle of its range.Complete Story »

Tom Lydon submits:

Seemingly left for dead in recent weeks in the wake of a slowing global economy, copper exchange traded funds and notes are now on track for their strongest week since April. Copper initially were tumbling in recent weeks, heading for their longest slide since May 2009, as the lower global demand for the commodity hit the markets. Until earlier this week, copper demand had slumped 18%, says Millie Munshi and Chanyaporn Chanjaroen for BusinessWeek.Complete Story »

Tom Lydon submits:

Sometimes, a rising trade deficit is a good thing, and in March the U.S. economy hit a 15-month trade deficit high. That may be one reason why investors pushed stocks and exchange traded funds up over 1% in Wednesday’s trading. Typically, a large trade deficit is not favorable since it means we are giving money away faster than bringing it in. However, in this economic climate, the larger trade gap indicates a more robust demand for imports, which is a positive sign for the U.S. and global economic outlook, According to Veronica Smith of AFP.A deficit of $40.4 billion is what we are looking at in March.Complete Story »

Hickey and Walters (Bespoke) submit:
Below we highlight our trading range charts for ten major commodities. For each chart, the green shading represents between two standard deviations above and below the 50-day moving average. Moves above or below the green zone are considered overbought or oversold. As shown, oil and copper both moved into oversold territory over the past couple of weeks as global equity markets pulled back. Conversely, gold and silver moved higher to overbought territory. Platinum remains in an uptrend and is currently right in the middle of its trading range. Natural gas, corn, and wheat remain in long-term downtrends, while coffee and orange juice have been moving sideways lately.Complete Story »

Tom Lydon submits:

ETF Spotlight on PowerShares DB Base Metals (DBB), part of a weekly series. Assets: $507 millionComplete Story »

Michael Johnston submits:A week highlighted by the relatively uneventful Federal Reserve meeting saw equity markets head generally higher, as investors cheered the prospect of several more months of low interest rates. After months of heated debate, a vote on health care reform looms over the weekend, and health care funds above-average volumes throughout the week. Below, we offer our picks for the week’s most important and interesting ETF stories from around the Web. When Are Emerging Markets Not Emerging Anymore? at Index Universe:Complete Story »

Hickey and Walters (Bespoke) submit:
The stock market is up about 65% since the 3/9/09 low, but oil has actually outperformed stocks over this time period with a gain of 72.64%. Below we highlight the performance of ten major commodities over the last year. As shown, copper is up the most with a gain of 108%, while orange juice ranks second with a gain of 101%. Of the three main precious metals, platinum is up the most at 50%, followed by silver at +33.73%, and then gold at +22.16%. Even natural gas is up since the March 9th, 2009 low with a gain of 16%. Wheat and corn are the only commodities shown that are down over the last year. Corn is down 11%, while wheat is down 18.27%.click to enlargeComplete Story »

The huge 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Chile this weekend could have short-term affects on stocks' potential winners and losers.

• Copper

With Chile being the world’s number one producer of copper, the industrial metal surged over 5% on Monday, as supply disruptions sent the price higher. The iPath Dow Jones Copper ETN (JJC) tracks the price of copper and the PowerShares Base Metals ETF (DBB) is composed of one-third copper along with aluminum and zinc. The move will likely be a short-term move as production gets back on line quickly; however, I do own DBB for clients and I feel that it is a strong long-term commodity play.

• Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM)

One of the world’s leading fertilizer companies is also a major player in the lithium sector. The earthquake is not likely to have a large affect on the company, however any weakness from the natural disaster would be viewed as a buying opportunity. Our firm owns shares of SQM.

• Lan Airlines (LFL)

The Santiago-based airline stands to be directly impacted with airports in major Chilean cities closed for the majority of the weekend. The hope is that by early this week the flights into and out Santiago will be back to normal. Interesting is the strength of LFL versus its peers over the last year. Any weakness in LFL could be viewed as a buying opportunity.

• iShares MSCI Chile ETF (ECH)

The ETF is composed of a basket of 32 Chilean stocks with a heavy emphasis on utilities, materials, and industrials. There will be damage to the utilities infrastructure as lines are damaged, however the materials and industrials may benefit from an increased demand for their products and services.The ETF has been a strong single-country performer this year and any dip in the upcoming week should be met with buying. If you want to look at a utility company as a play, there is the Empresa Nacional Electricidad (EOC), a large utility based in Santiago. Technically speaking, the stock is a buy at current levels, but again let the weakness play out early in the week before buying.

• Banks

Finally, there are two major Chile banks traded on American exchanges, Banco Santander Chile (SAN) and Banco de Chile (BCH). Both stocks hit all-time highs earlier this year and again weakness may be the opportunity needed to begin building a position.Remember, at the end of the day the most important issue is that the rescue efforts can save as many lives as possible in the affected areas. My prayers are with Chile.Disclosure: Author long SQM and DBBComplete Story »

Trader Mark submits:First, let me state I have never heard of Mr. Threlkeld, so I don't have any history to draw from - however according to this Bloomberg piece.Complete Story »

Michael Johnston submits:Over the last year, U.S. equity markets have staged a remarkable recovery as volatility has plummeted and the emergency stimulus measures implemented amidst heated debate appear to have had their intended effect. Indications that unemployment may be close to peaking and that consumer confidence is on the rise once again only add fuel to the recovery fire. But amidst all the unbridled optimism is a growing number of investors concerned that the time will soon come to pay the piper following the massive capital injections of the last two years. The theories as to what will drive a surge in inflation are as numerous as the predictions of just how high CPI could go. Some “inflation bugs” think rates will only test the high end of the Fed’s comfort zone, while others are betting on a hyperinflationary period that sees rates as high as 20%.Complete Story »