Commodity Prices

Distorted Prices in Commodity Markets

Otaviano Canuto | Posted 05.23.2012

Read More: Commodities, Wto, Commodity Prices, Food Products, Imports, World Bank, Exports, Food Prices, World News
Otaviano Canuto

Take the case of the upsurge of export barriers in response to rising world prices of food staples. While a particular country might put in place such a barrier to keep food at home and prices low, the effects in importing countries are negative.

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Imperiling People, Posterity, and the Planet

Robert Walker | Posted 05.16.2012

Read More: Population, Living Planet, Energy Prices, Climate Change, Commodity Prices, Biodiversity, Environment, Sustainability, Resource-Scarcity, Water Scarcity, Consumption, Ecological Footprint, Food Security, Green News
Robert Walker

John Beddington, the U.K.'s chief science adviser, three years ago gave a speech in which he warned that population growth, climate change, and the world's rising demand for food, energy, and water constituted a "perfect storm" that could destabilize the world by 2030, or sooner.

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'Fear Has Been Gold's Best Friend'

AP | MATTHEW CRAFT and BERNARD CONDON | Posted 04.04.2012

Read More: Gold Price Per Ounce, Gold Prices, Commodities, Video, Commodity Prices, Gold Prices Plunge, Business News, Gold, Business News

NEW YORK — The price of gold, which has climbed for years like a blood pressure reading for anxious investors, plunged Wednesday to its lowest l...

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People Still Crave This Even At High Prices

Reuters | Posted 05.12.2012

Read More: Video, Commodity Prices, Reuters, Soda, Business News, Bottled Water Industry, Bottled Water Prices, Beverages, Nestle, Bottled Water, Business News

(Adds details, comments on tea) By Martinne Geller and Carey Gillam CHICAGO, March 12 (Reuters) - Consumers are shunning...

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Expect Restaurants To Get Even More Expensive In 2012

Posted 01.10.2012

Read More: Restaurant Menu Prices, Video, Price of Eating Out, Menu Prices, Commodity Prices, Food Price Increase, Restaurants, Menus, Food Prices, Restaurant Prices, Restaurant Price Increase, Food News

Last week, Starbucks raised a fracas when it announced its plans to raise prices in some regions by an average of about one percent. Prices at the cof...

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Agency Reverses Controversial Decision To Cut Agriculture Reports

AP | Posted 12.25.2011

Read More: Video, Commodities, Commodity Prices, Production Reports, Business News, USDA Policy, Usda, Usda Agriculture Reports, Usda Data, Business News

WASHINGTON -- The Agriculture Department is reinstating several reports that it had targeted for elimination two months ago in a cost-cutting move. T...

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Many Expect Rising Food Prices To Cut Into Holiday Spending

Posted 01.01.2012

Read More: Gas Prices, Video, Holiday Shopping, Apple, Retail Sales, Commodity Prices, Food Prices, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Christmas Shopping, Amazon, Americas Research Group, Business News

More than a third of consumers expect rising food prices to cause them to cut back on holiday spending, a new survey showed on Tuesday. A total...

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Commodities Trading Regulator Filed Record Actions In Past Year

AP | Posted 12.07.2011

Read More: Commodity Futures Trading Commission 2011, Commodities, Video, Commodity Prices, Commodity Markets, Business News, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Commodity Trading, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Business News

WASHINGTON -- A federal agency that regulates commodities trading says it brought the most enforcement actions it has in its 37-year history during th...

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Commodity Traitors: Financial Speculation on Commodities Fuels Global Insecurity

Eric Michael Johnson | Posted 11.29.2011

Read More: Wall Street Crisis, Wall Street Regulation, Wall Street, Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, Commodity Prices, Economic Crisis, Occupy Wall Street, Agriculture, Science, #Occupywallstreet, Business News
Eric Michael Johnson

In the face of widespread global hunger, it turns out there is a downside to playing with your food.

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The Era of Living Dangerously

Robert Walker | Posted 10.10.2011

Read More: Population, Global Financial Crisis, Debt, Hunger, Poverty, Climate Change, Famine, Food Crisis, Great Recession, Rioting, Commodity Prices, Horn of Africa, Environment, Financial Crisis, London Rioting, Recession, Politics News
Robert Walker

We saw what happens when over-leveraged economies like the U.S. and Europe failed to anticipate the threats posed by unsustainable debt loads; we don't want to see what happens if we ignore signs that we are over-leveraging the planet's resources.

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Christine Lagarde on Sovereign Debt, Growth and Social Instability

iMFdirect | Posted 09.25.2011

Read More: Sovereign Debt, Debt, Fiscal Consolidation, International Monetary Fund, Deficits, Employment, Jobs, Imf, United States, Growth, Japan, Debt Ceiling, Commodity Prices, Social Inequality, Greece, Euorpe, Business News
iMFdirect

The IMF chief gave a speech in New York City today that sets out how the IMF can help countries tackle this troika of challenges to the global economy...

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Farming Bubble Could Be Reality

Posted 09.21.2011

Read More: Agricultural Bankers, Farming Bubble, Bank of Newman Grove, Farming Crisis, Commodity Prices, Farmers, U.S. Agriculture Department, Farmland, Kansas City Federal Reserve, Passport Capital, Kansas City, Business News

(Christine Stebbins) - Soaring farmland values in the past year are causing worries among agricultural bankers that a farmland "bubble" may be bre...

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Goldman Cuts Growth Forecasts On Weak Consumer Spending

Posted 09.17.2011

Read More: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Jan Hatzius, Consumer Confidence, Japan Earthquake, Gdp, Retail Sales, BNP Paribas, Wall Street, Commodity Prices, University of Michigan, Downgrade, Manufacturing, Growth, Consumer Spending, Video, Business News

Goldman Sachs has cut its forecast for U.S. second-quarter growth to 1.5 percent from 2 percent, citing weak consumer spending. The downgrade f...

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High Food Prices Here To Stay

AP | By RAF CASERT | Posted 08.17.2011

Read More: Food Inflation, Commodities, High Food Prices, Price of Food America, Commodity Prices, Food Price Hikes, High Food Prices Continue, Food Prices, Food Prices America, Food News

PARIS -- High food prices are likely to rise even further over the next decade, putting the poor at an increasing risk of malnutrition and hunger, a w...

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High Energy Prices Cause Sharp Decline In Manufacturing

DANIEL WAGNER | Posted 08.01.2011

Read More: Hsbc, Energy Prices, Commodity Prices, China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Commerce Department, Index of Manufacturing Activity, U.S. Manufacturing, Economic Growth, Institute for Supply Management, Video, Business News

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. manufacturing activity expanded in May at the slowest pace in 20 months, the latest sign that a sharp rise in energy prices is...

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More Diversity Will Help the IMF at Work

iMFdirect | Posted 08.01.2011

Read More: Mutual Assessment, Egypt, Women, Recovery, Spillover Reports, Poverty, Global Economy, Spillover, Allegations, Africa, Tunisia, International Monetary Fund, Imf, Overheating, Economic Growth, Recruitment, Policy, G-20, Membership, Gender, Nemat Shafik, Middle East, Commodity Prices, New York Times, Portugal, Diversity, Global Imbalances, Euro Zone Crisis, Emerging Economies, Greece, Low-Income Countries, Business News
iMFdirect

Nemat Shafik, who took over as IMF Deputy Managing Director in April, says she has been surprised by the vigor of internal policy debate at the IMF. "...

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Gas And Food Prices Jump But Not Enough To Worry Fed

Posted 07.13.2011

Read More: Consumer Prices, Gasoline Prices, Japan Earthquake, Japan Tsunami, Housing, Commodity Prices, Inflation, New Vehicles, Labor Department, Federal Reserve, Medical Costs, Consumer Price Index, Used Trucks, Business News

WASHINGTON (By Lucia Mutikani) - Inflation raced to a 2-1/2 year high in April as food and gasoline prices rose, but there was little sign of a ...

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Gas Prices up, Wages Down, Americans Caught in the Middle

Bryce Covert | Posted 07.11.2011

Read More: Debt, Gas Prices, Credit Cards, Housing, Health Care, Rent, Wages, Commodity Prices, Unemployment, National Debt, Medical Bills, Business News
Bryce Covert

What do Americans do when we can't afford the necessities? What we've learned to do over the past 30 years as our wages stagnated: use credit cards to plug the gaping holes.

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Subsidies -- Love Them or Hate Them, It's Better to Target Them

Masood Ahmed | Posted 07.11.2011

Read More: Public Finances, Cost-Effective, Cash Transfers, Subsidy Reform, Social Safety Nets, Food Price Subsidy, Commodity Prices, Fuel Price Subsidy, Public Sector Governance, Better Targeting Subsidies, Protecting the Poor, Regional Economic Outlook: Middle East and Central Asia, Social Protection, Business News
Masood Ahmed

Like many things, there may be a time and a place for using subsidies. But they need to be better targeted. And, often, there will be better alternatives. Alternatives that do a better job of protecting the poor.

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China's Trade Surplus Booms As Exports Hit Record High

Posted 07.10.2011

Read More: Deficit, Imports, Beijing, Monetary Tightening, Commodity Prices, Washington, Exports, People's Bank of China, Japan's Earthquake, China Merchants Bank, China, Business News

BEIJING (Kevin Yao and Aileen Wang) – China stormed back to post a hefty trade surplus in April as exports hit a record while imports eased more...

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What Really Caused Oil's Record Drop?

Posted 07.09.2011

Read More: Oil Prices, Speculation, George Soros, Oil Prices Fall, Commodity Prices, Commodities Trading, Hedge Funds, Gas Prices, Business News

NEW YORK (Reuters) - When oil prices fell below $120 a barrel in early New York trade last Thursday, a few big companies that are major oil consumers ...

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Zach Carter

House GOP Bill To Delay Financial Regulations Clears Key Hurdle

HuffingtonPost.com | Zach Carter | Posted 07.04.2011

Read More: Politics, Gas Prices, Joe Courtney, Wall Street, Commodity Prices, Speculation, Wall Street Reform, Oil, Bernie Sanders, Obama, Business, Position Limits, Cftc, House Republicans, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- With gas prices approaching record highs and soaring food prices fueling global unrest, Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee p...

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Asian Countries Join Forces To Fight Inflation Risk

Posted 07.03.2011

Read More: Capital Flows, Chiang Mai Initiative, North Africa, Japan Earthquake, Commodity Prices, South Korea. Asian Bond Markets Initiative, Macroeconomic Policies, Middle East Uprisings, Global Financial Crisis, Japan, China, Asean, Business News

HANOI - Finance ministers of China, Japan and South Korea are mindful of the challenges from inflation, rising commodity prices and the increasing...

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Zach Carter

Bernie Sanders Demands Obama Action On Oil Prices

HuffingtonPost.com | Zach Carter | Posted 06.29.2011

Read More: Gas Prices, Politics, Wall Street, Commodity Prices, Speculation, Oil, Regulation, Obama, Bernie Sanders, Business, Cftc, Politics News

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) demanded on Thursday that regulators impose limits on oil speculation to help lower the price of gas in a letter sent to P...

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This University Endowment Owns About $1B In Gold Bars

Bloomberg | David Mildenberg and Pham | Posted 06.16.2011

Read More: Gold, Texas University Endowment, Gold Prices, Precious Metals, Gold Bars, Commodity Prices, Business News

he University of Texas Investment Management Co., the second-largest U.S. academic endowment, took delivery of almost $1 billion in gold bullion and i...

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