OPEC’s attempts to unseat high-cost production from other countries appears to be failing Changing course after failureIn 2015, we began a research series documenting the price war that The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) started in retaliation to the growing market share of high-cost producers. In this piece,… Read More »
Investor sentiment has rebounded strongly, albeit from record levels of pessimism. We expect that the worst-case scenario surrounding Brexit negotiations has already been priced in for GBP. Consolidation ahead of UK electionWe expect that the British Pound will experience a period of consolidation around current levels ahead of the UK… Read More »
Led by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), 21 nations have been trying to reduce crude production by almost 1.7 million barrels a day since November 2016 and have achieved an average compliance rate of 96%. On May 25th, OPEC will meet in Vienna to decide whether to extend… Read More »
Oil prices could touch highs last seen in April when the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) convenes its next meeting in Vienna on 25th of May, WisdomTree’s Nizam Hamid has said. Volatility has dominated the commodity in recent weeks, with the latest statistics from the US shale industry… Read More »
Expansion of natural gas production in the US at a time when output of other fuels is also expected to increase will mean that the US will become more reliant on exports End of gas as a transition fuel?In 2014 President Obama labelled natural gas a “bridge fuel” to help… Read More »
Expectations around the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) March 15 rate announcement were the principal drivers of the gold market in March. U.S. economic statistics have been somewhat positive recently, leading the market to expect the Fed to become more hawkish and to perhaps even guide for four rate increases in 2017… Read More »
Stronger economic growth in developed and developing markets is increasing demand at a time when supply is constrained. Commodities have had a mixed start to 2017. The Bloomberg Commodities Index is down 2.5% year-to-date (to 31 March 2017), after a substantial drop in the oil price in March pared back… Read More »
Oil prices are unlikely to rebound significantly from current levels, with a glut of supply and increasingly advanced methods of extraction set to keep the commodity’s price lower for longer. Oil has fallen sharply in the last month, with the price of Brent crude retreating more than 10% from 56… Read More »
An investor in commodities using futures contracts is not only exposed to the price of the raw material but also to the cost of holding a futures contract and rolling it from one contract to another. The mechanism of contango and backwardation continues to intrigue. While contango is known to… Read More »
Gold prices were up 8.6% in Q1 2017, and now seem to be consolidating in the USD 1200-1250 range. As expected, the US central bank raised interest rates by 25 bps at its March FOMC meeting, confident in the strength of the employment market, with the workforce nearly fully employed,… Read More »