Michael Martin is a proprietary commodity trader. He is the Commodity Lecturer for the CFA Institute and UCLA. He is a frequent speaker on risk management.

Until September 2008, he was an Associate Editor of Trader Monthly magazine.

His blog Martin Kronicle is at http://martinkronicle.com. He is a regular contributor to Fiduciary Magazine and the Ludwig von Mises Institute.

Blog Entries by Michael Martin

The ABC's of Bias: Puma, Crude Oil, and You

Posted November 7, 2009 | 02:58 AM (EST)


Attention airline passengers: Not only do you have to pay extra for your luggage, your meal, and your headphones, you now have a dress code on United Airlines. But that shouldn't surprise you. The airlines industry in general has been mismanaged for decades, including being overwhelmed with high labor...

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Broke: The New American Dream

7 Comments | Posted July 5, 2009 | 02:32 AM (EST)


A new documentary Directed by Michael Covel has been released that takes a hard look at the decisions we as a country make about money. Broke: The New American Dream is a study in Behavioral Finance -- how and why people do the things they do with their money --...

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Elections in Iran: What It Means For Oil

6 Comments | Posted June 12, 2009 | 02:28 PM (EST)


Uncertainty about Iran's leadership might have had as much to do with the increase in crude oil prices over the last 4 months as anything else. Under a powerful attack from former President Rafsanjani, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad has been scrambling for his political life. The stakes are high for the...

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Why Mozilo Was Charged With Insider Trading

1 Comments | Posted June 4, 2009 | 04:19 PM (EST)


The SEC has charged Angelo Mozilo with civil fraud and insider trading.

Civil fraud charges also were filed against Countrywide's former chief operating officer David Sambol and ex-chief financial officer Eric Sieracki, according to the AP.

Executives such as Mozilo are considered "Control People" because the decisions they make can...

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The Case of the Missing Stock Data

30 Comments | Posted June 3, 2009 | 01:03 PM (EST)


Every month now, more companies fall victim to the global credit crisis. Some, such as Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, are still fresh in our minds, but others that blew up years ago, such as Enron and Refco, have held on in the public consciousness. The sorry endings of these...

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Are Speculators to Blame for Soaring Oil Prices?

311 Comments | Posted May 28, 2009 | 03:43 PM (EST)


Oil prices have leapt off their lows in the face of a recession, and as is human nature, we want to know why. After trading in the low $40s in mid February, Crude Oil is now trading up over $60 per barrel -- a 50% increase in a little more...

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