Commodity Night Cap: Gold Reaches Lowest Level In Two Weeks, With Other Commodities Down As Well

Wheat - July through December contracts were all off 9.6 cents and closed at $4.9025, $5.192, and $5.452 respectively.

Corn - finished at its lowest level in four months due to improved weather conditions in the Midwest.  The weather has improved prospects for corn yields this year and normal rain fall has allowed crops to flourish to this point in the season.  July contracts were off 2.5 cents to $3.43 ¼ a bushel and December were down 13.25 cents to $3.4425.

Soybeans - an overall increased fear that a global economic recovery may take longer than expected pushed beans lower.  Prices for July fell 15-4 to close at $12.43 a bushel, while November contracts fell 9-4 to close at $10.06 per bushel.

Sugar - picked up where it left off on Thursday and fell more than it had all last week as the falling price of oil reduced the attractiveness of ethanol.  October futures were off .26 cent to 17.32 cents per pound which was the lowest close for the most active sugar contract since the end of June.

Cocoa - like sugar, fell for the fourth straight session as a rising dollar hurt prices.  September futures fell another $20 to $2,474 a metric ton.  Today’s close was the lowest since late May for an active contract.

Orange Juice - took a surprise turn upward today as unexpected demand for juice futures hit the market.  Prices moved forward a whopping 8.6 percent, which was the fastest one day climb since 2006.  Today’s move may have been have been due as OJ futures lost about 16 percent in June and were very technically overbought.  September futures were up 6.8 cents to 86.25 cents a pound; intraday prices touched 89.25.

Coffee - July futures rebounded today and gained .35 cent to close at 115.40.  September contracts also gained moving .30 to close at 118.10.

Pork Bellies - finished higher today after the holiday weekend; July and August were up 135 points to close at 55.20 cents and 55.52 cents.

Lean Hogs - technical buying held up lean futures today and July futures touched 2 week highs in the session.  July contracts finished up 67 points to 60.65 cents while August was at 62.05, a gain of 90.

Live Cattle - were lower due to lower grain prices, weak demand, and a fear that cash prices were getting ahead of futures pricing.  August futures were down 45 points to 84.42 cents a pound while October was also down 40 to close at 89.82.

Feeder Cattle - for the opposite reason of live cattle feeders were up due to weak grain prices.  On the first day back from the long weekend August feeders were up 35 points to 103.8 cents with September following suite and closing 82 points higher to 102.95 per pound.

Gold - was at its lowest levels in nearly two weeks as the dollar rose and crude oil tumbled.  Gold was not alone in its fall as the other precious metals also did poorly today as an inflation hedge.  August futures for gold were up $6.70 an ounce to $924.30.  The G8 meets later this week to determine the dollar’s status as a global reserve currency and to discuss the state of the world’s economic situation.

Silver - for September delivery declined by 17 cents and closed at $13.238.  During intraday trading prices dipped below $13 an ounce for the first time in 2 months.  Silver is very weak fundamentally and in general could be more prone than gold to fall out of favor with investors if the dollar continues to climb.

Platinum - futures for both July and October closed down $46.30 to $1178 and $1186.20 an ounce on concerns the economic crisis will be much more prolonged than expected.  A prolonged recession will likely continue to erode and hurt global auto industry demand for platinum.

Palladium - September and December 09′ as well as March 10′ futures contracts were down $9.35 an ounce today to close at $242.65, $243.80, and $245.30 respectively.

Copper- fell the most in almost a week as inventory data suggested that stockpiles are rising.  September futures were off 4.3 cents to $2.2625 a pound.

Crude Oil - was devastated again today on weak employment numbers in the US, a stronger dollar, and increasing gasoline and distillate inventories.  August crude fell another $2.68 to close down at $64.05 per barrel.

Natural Gas - fell today on continued concerns supply would far exceed demand and weaker broad market conditions.  August contracts lost 1.28 to close at $3.487 per million British thermal units while September lost 1.35 cents to close at $3.622 BTU’s.

Gasoline RBOB - for August dropped 5.04 cents to $1.7404 and closed at the lowest level since mid May for a front month contract.  Falling crude prices, a rising dollar, and increased fuel supply have damaged prices over the past several sessions.

Heating Oil - like the other energies heating oil was also down and lost another 4% following Thursday’s decline.  The change came from a price drop of 7.5 cents which brought August contracts to $1.6266 a gallon.  Like all energies heating oil is suffering from a swing in sentiment and the realization that the recession may take longer to thaw than many traders had thought.

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