Molybdenum the New Gold! 9 Reasons Why Investing in This Commodity Makes Sense

By Carlo Biancardi

#1- An investment will and should be in a precious metal needed for life to occur, plants and animals need Molybdenum to live. There is nothing more fundamental or basic than an element. We need elements to build or grow anything. We need Molybdenum (an element) to grow any plant or life form. There are 3 types of elements: poisonous, inert and life giving. Which elements would you want to be around? Which elements would you keep away? Gold does not support life. Silver does not support life. As for Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium you can probably guess what I will say next. Molybdenum is the finest metal to be a part of (literally). Molybdenum has many uses.

#2- Molybdenum has the lowest abundance of the life giving elements in the Earth's crust (other than industry useless Selenium) at 1 ppm (0.0001%).

#3- Molybdenum has the 6th highest melting point of all the elements, and by far the highest melting point (4753 degrees fahrenheit) of all the metals needed for life.

#4- If I were leaving Earth forever, I would build the ship out of Molybdenum. I would only bring life giving elements with me, that is the same mentality I have here on Earth, that is to invest in physical Molybdenum. I could grow hydroponic plants which need Molybdenum and other life giving elements to survive. I would not bring Gold with me.

#5- China has high rates of esophageal cancer and/or strokes because of low Molybdenum amounts in their soil. To fertilize farmland you need half a Pound of Molybdenum per acre (International Molybdenum Association) some websites suggest up to 6 pounds per acre, on a 1-3 year basis. There are about 1 billion acres of farmland in the U.S.A. and billions of acres of deficient farmland worldwide, which clearly means there is not enough Molybdenum for everyone.

#6- Nuclear power is not leaving, nor are oil and gas pipelines. Nuclear power plants need high Molybdenum content stainless steel cooling pipes (6.5% or higher Molybdenum) because it prevents corrosion. Salty ocean water is very corrosive to the water cooling pipes. All nuclear power plants are near large bodies of water and need lots of water for cooling the reactors. Pipelines use high amounts of Molybdenum and will be using higher percentages of Molybdenum content in the future to combat corrosion and reduce friction of crude oil delivery in the pipelines. Corroded infrastructure and new infrastructure will need Molybdenum for the Steel used. Molybdenum also greatly enhances Steel strength.

Lucky #7- China is calling molybdenum a national resource and is limiting the mining of molybdenum because they know it is more valuable left in their mines and in the ground, they will buy everyone elses at low cheap prices now. They will import this metal. China realizes that irreplaceable molybdenum is important for their country going forward.

#8- The world total yearly amount of Molybdenum mined and CONSUMED is 500 million pounds. What does that amount look like? Well it's 150 meters x 150 meters x 1 meter high. That is not much at all! ONE small project could easily consume this all. All the data on the internet mentions tonnes and millions of pounds and when you look at the total amount mined in volume (cubic meters), it is very tiny.

#9- ONE investor could buy the whole planets yearly Molybdenum production for $8 billion dollars (Jan 2011). Molybdenum only costs $1 per ounce. In comparison, to buy all the Gold that is available and that has ever been mined, it would cost you $7.4 trillion dollars (Jan 2011) to buy the 375 million pounds of useless bling!

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Funds bet on sugar, cattle amidst grains sell-off

by Agrimoney.com

Investors continued to pile into sugar, and lifted long bets on livestock too, even while slashing their exposure to corn and soybeans to their lowest in about a year.

Large funds cut their net long position in Chicago corn futures to 214,400 contracts as of last Tuesday – down more than 20% in a week and the lowest figure since last summer, official data showed.

Net length measures the advantage of long bets on futures contracts, which gain in a rising market, with the short positions which profit when prices fall.

And with informal data showing sales continued last week - potentially at an even faster rate - funds' net long exposure to corn may have halved in a fortnight.

Assuming daily data last week are correct, large funds "will have come out of another 25+% of their length bringing the total down to around 160,000 contracts", Jon Michalscheck said.

Speculators quit

The decline highlights the extent of the exodus of investors from farm commodity markets in the face of a deteriorating macroeconomic backdrop and improved prospects for many crops too, given a change in much of the northern hemisphere to better weather.

For soybeans, the net length fell by more than one-third to 35,400 lots over the week, compared with figures of some 150,000 contracts earlier in the year.

For Chicago wheat, non-commercial investors increased their – traditional – net short position to the highest for some seven months, meaning more funds were betting on prices falling than rising.

Speculators fuelled the sell-off, with their net long position across the 14 main US crop futures markets falling, in weight equivalent, by 15m tonnes to 53m tonnes, according to Australia & New Zealand Bank.

Back in favour

However, sugar defied the sell-off, seeing net longs by non-commercial investors rise by roughly one-quarter to 95,000 lots, one of the highest levels of the year.

"Speculators continued to increase their exposure to sugar, rising 11,000 to 176,000 contracts," noted ANZ, which uses a broader interpretation of speculator than some other houses in examining investor positioning data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the US regulator.

Sugar prices have proved relatively firm amidst this month's slide in farm commodities markets, amidst concerns for output from top producer Brazil, although they opened weaker in both London and New York on Monday.

Similarly, non-commercial investors also increased net long exposure in Chicago live cattle, whose price has bounced since data showed a slide in US feedlot inventories, and in lean hogs.

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Morning markets: economy jitters keep crops on the back foot

by Agrimoney.com

Grains started off this week where they ended the last, in the discount bin, on what was very much a "risk off" day.

Concerns about Greek debt were still in the ascendancy, with a vote this week on the austerity measures which the government has agreed with lenders to claim a E12bn rescue package, but which Parliament has yet to accede to.

But so were fears about China's economy, a huge consumer of raw materials, after Wen Jiabao, the country's premier, said that keeping inflation under the official 4% target would be tricky, but that 5% is achievable.

And, as an extra downer, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision agreed to tighten capital requirements for large banks, inferring more difficult loan criteria than would otherwise be the cas.

Risk off

Shares dipped on many Asian markets, with Tokyo stocks closing down 1.0%.

And, as the euro eased again, the dollar rose, adding 0.2% against a basket of currencies, and so acting as a depressant on prices of dollar-denominated assets including many commodities, making them less affordable as exports.

Copper shed 0.8% in London, falling below $9,000 a tonne, while New York oil was 1.0% lower as of 07:20 GMT (08:20 UK time), struggling to stay above $90 a barrel.

Cotton loses mojo

The weakness spread through to agricultural commodity markets, with even cotton, which bucked last week's downward trend, crumbling.

New York's July contract was 2.8% lower at 160.55 cents a pound, with the new crop December lot down 2.8% at 118.50 cents a pound.

Cotton is particularly attuned to what is going on China, the top producer, consumer and importer of the fibre, and where futures tumbled more than 3% on the Zhengzhou exchange.

That trumped forecasts of further hot weather in America's southern, cotton-growing states, even on the 11-to-15 day outlook, where models foresee the "Plains from South Dakota to Texas very hot and dry", according to WxRisk.com.

'Fundamentals are negative'

For corn-growing districts, the threat of a "heat dome" later in the week appear to be ameliorating, with the warmth looking like heading back west, leaving areas east of the Mississippi less troubled.

Further ahead, in the 11-to-15 day, one model shows the eastern Corn Belt staying "seasonally warm", with the western Corn Belt would be "in the battle zone between the" Plains and easterly areas.

Whatever, the forecast was not enough to keep corn ahead, even with a little bit of help from a mildly bullish US hog report late on Friday, showing herd numbers slightly higher than expected, and relatively firm cash markets too, with lower prices showing signs of flushing out buyers.

Corn for July delivery was 1.5% lower at $6.59 ¾ a bushel, with the new crop December lot down 1.3% at $6.23 ½ a bushel.

And with corn, which has far tighter fundamentals, flagging, wheat had no chance. Especially with prospects for wheat crops looking better.

"Fundamentals are negative as wheat harvest advances in the northern hemisphere, bringing new supplies in from the fields," said Dave Lehl at Benson Quinn Commodities.

'Major rain event'

In Singapore, Lynette Tan at Phillip Futures said: "The global crop is in generally good shape with conditions in Europe improving.

"Russia's agriculture ministry notes its grain harvest began yesterday," although some Black Sea areas, at least, are on for rain.

"In Europe weather models have held and still show a dry warm week coming up for all of western and central Europe and a major rain event for allof the Ukraine/Black Sea area," WxRisk.com said.

"This is a long duration event and will bring 80% coverage to all of the Ukraine over next seven days of 2-7 inches of rain."

Wheat dipped 1.9% in Chicago to $.6.24 a bushel for July delivery, with the Kansas equivalent shedding 1.3% to $7.38 ½ a bushel.

Spring wheat, whose prospects have suffered heavily from North American sowing delays, was relatively firm, losing 0.9% to $8.19 a bushel in Minneapolis.

Palm down

As ever, it was left to soybeans to keep bullish sentiment even on life support, with the July contract down 0.4% at $13.15 a bushel, while the new crop November lot fell 0.7% to $12.99 ¾ a bushel.

And technically, soybean futures are, after all, "quickly approaching oversold conditions" Benson Quinn said (not that this has helped the grains much) and there are signs that China is stepping up its buying again.

Still, it was not getting any help from its rival in the oilseed complex, palm oil, which in Kuala Lumpur maintained its downward trek, falling 1.4% to 3,074 ringgit a tonne for September delivery, its weakest since November.

This despite data from Societe Generale de Surveillance pegging Malaysia's palm exports up 15.1% so far this month with Intertek Testing Services, the rival cargo surveyor, putting the rise at 17.3%

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Who Says America Can't Create Jobs? Look How Many Jobs Our Government Created in China!

By Lance Winslow

There is a funny line I like to use when someone tells me that we don't make anything anymore in the United States. I tell them, "yes we do, we make hamburgers," and that always gets a little bit of a laugh, but in many regards is not very funny is it? It seems that the United States Corporation has a factory floor, where all the corporations put their factories, and unfortunately the factory floor is not in the United States, it's in China.
Many people say that the economic recovery has been less than adequate, and to that I do not disagree. But, when they say this economic recovery has not produced any jobs, I believe they are mistaken. In fact the American consumer is back buying things, and American corporations are producing more than ever before. They just aren't producing and manufacturing here in the states, again they are making things in China. Do you know why? And before you tell me it's because of the low labor rates, I'd like to point out a few other facts to you.

First, yes the labor rates do have something to do with it, but there is much more to the story. For instance China is opening their markets, and US companies want to sell products into that country. If we have factories there, their government is more than likely to allow us to compete in China, as we are providing jobs as well. Remember that is a communist country, and although the Chinese love capitalism because they believe it is glorious to be rich, they also want American companies to join Chinese partnerships to share that wealth.

Next, I'd like to point out that we have it tough with here in the US with labor regulations, labor unions, Obama Care, class-action lawsuits, and environmental regulations chasing companies away. Why would anyone build a factory in the United States, and wish to compete in the global market and at such an incredible disadvantage? It costs 8 to 10 times as much to build a factory in the United States due to all the regulations. The unions are demanding excessive high wages with benefits without providing that level of intensity and productivity so that it's almost impossible to make a decent profit.

Then we have corporate tax rate issues, and all the lawyers always trying to sue corporations with deep pockets. If we continually chase American businesses a way to foreign shores, we shouldn't be surprised that all the jobs being created by our recessionary recovery are happening in China and not in the United States. Worse, it's too bad that it often appears that our elected representatives have never studied free-market economics, or really understand what capitalism is truly about. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

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The New Normal: The Economy Will NEVER Return to How It Was - And What to Do About That

By Scott Marcus

Since the "great recession" of 2008 (which appears to still be in process) came trampling through our economic landscape, I have been - like so many others - waiting and hoping for the rebuilding. When will things get back to how they were? Can we soon return to easier times of job security and stable wages? My ship is weary of white caps; I long to navigate calm seas. When can we be there?

While pondering such issues, it fell hard on me, like a load of gold bricks sold on many radio talk shows as a "hedge against hard times." The economy - and our lifestyle - will NEVER return to how it was. The "good old days" (such as they were) are in the rear view mirror and we have no reverse gear. We cannot turn around and they will not come back.

That's an upsetting - some might say "terrifying" - concept. Never again will we be able to conduct our lives and businesses like we did "back then." What we are now experiencing is - and will continue to be - the "New Normal." Until our last days, and those of our grandchildren, "different" will be "ordinary." Future generations will study the heyday of the 1990s and early 2000s much the same as we picture the gay 1890s or the early 1920s; wild, excessive, booming - and only imaginable as images in history books.

I don't mean to be a downer, but it's time we bow to an ever-apparent reality and accept facts for what they are, not what we long for them to be. Denying the obvious delays the inevitable, which furthers great hurt and denigrates our lives. Striving to maintain an illusory status quo by rejecting reality prolongs its effects; and makes worse the pain.

Having said that, I do pride myself on being positive, while understanding that the set up of this column might appear less than optimistic. Yet, it can be. Due to this unhappy situation in which we find ourselves mired, we are becoming more resourceful, better planning our expenses, accepting gratification in that which we took for granted previously, and we are contributing more to our local communities.

These are wonderful changes. Many considered getting "more involved in our communities" or "cutting back on frivolous spending" numerous times before. However, until now, the pressure was not convincing enough to force action. "One of these days..." has arrived. It is today.

Significant change is always born of fear, force, or pain. No one gets up one morning, totally content with life, and says, "Let me see how I can change it." Rather, when circumstances become too uncomfortable, we decide to do something different. The great recession has inflicted much fear and great pain, and has forced upon us harsh change. Although things will never be as they were, we overlook that they can be better. We will have tools and techniques never before considered. We will at some point re-establish equilibrium. Our world will forever be altered; yet it will also be unique with a new set of advantages and benefits; unknown to us today, but surely waiting over the horizon.

The quicker we accept that there is no turning back, the speedier we will face the future - and the faster we will experience these new advantages.

Some might disagree with my analysis; I accept that. However, should I be off track - and society does return to "how it was" - there's is no down side, for if we adjust, we will be healthier and stronger for having worked together and supported each other through these times.

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Where the Wild Things Are

By: Alan Brugler

It was another great week to be a livestock feeder, with grain prices showing nothing but red ink, while exports and July 4 demand boosted both present and future prices for cattle and hogs. While prices might have gone hog wild in those pits, they had no claim on the wildest price action. Crude oil futures saw an early week rally snuffed out by the IEA, which coordinated a plan to flood the world market with 60 million barrels of strategic reserve oil. While representing just a few hours of global use, the action was widely viewed as a warning shot to crude oil longs about further potential intervention if prices don’t come down. Currencies were also wild, with Papandreou surviving a confidence vote in Greece, and striking an austerity deal with the EU and IMF. Now he just has to get Parliament to pass it and Greece gets a little more time to fix the bigger problems.

Corn futures dropped 30 cents per bushel for the week, which was a relief because it wasn’t the 87 cent loss of the week before. The new crop December was down 28 cents. The main story continued to be long liquidation in the July contract. As of a couple weeks ago there were still over 2 billion bushels of futures contracts open. There just isn’t that much corn available, and the exchange has rules for maintaining an orderly market. Longs were forced to reduce their ownership. Ethanol production increased thanks to the cheaper corn costs, and export bookings also picked up. Livestock margins improved dramatically, which will make it hard to cut feed use estimates. Low prices cure low prices, but one can also argue that low wheat prices are curing high corn prices via substitution buying.

Soybeans dropped less than 1% for the week. The Census Crush report was bull friendly, showing more grind and smaller ending stocks than the trade expected. However, the export market remains soft, and China again deferred more 2010/11 old crop purchases into new crop 2011/12 shipping slots. That has a number of analysts expecting USDA to show higher ending stocks in July unless the June 30 Grain Stocks report shows that the bushels are already gone via some other means.

Wheat showed all the characteristics of a bear market, dropping hard on bearish news and pretty much ignoring bullish items like the strong weekly export sales report on Thursday and the report that 5 to 5.5 million acres of North Dakota crops would not be planted due to wet conditions. Up to 2 million of those acres are believed to be wheat. The bear news included better than expected yields for US HRW and SRW wheat, upward revisions for German and French production, and low ball pricing of Russian wheat in a Tunisian tender. The EU wheat futures dropped 7.5% in a single day due to currency issues and this low price competition.

Cotton saw divergent paths for old crop (there isn’t any) and new crop (the crop won’t be as large as originally expected but neither is likely global consumption). Nearby July was up 13.8% in a week as mills fixed on call purchases ahead of first notice day. Cert stocks are tight, so the bears didn’t have much leverage and may still be vulnerable to a short squeeze. US export sales continue to be dismal in both old crop and new crop slots. December was down 1.7% for the week. Cotton crop insurance claims are already at an all time high according to Texas sources.

Looking to enhance your existing Ag Marketing Professional subscription? Add free futures market quotes sent to your cell phone via our Market Monitor service. Or "push" the daily recommendations out to your phone as they happen with Market Messenger 2. Call in consulting service with Alan is also available for a limited number of new customers in our Ag Marketing Professional Premium package. Call our office for details on either service at 402-289-2330.

Here are the Friday night closes for the past four weeks, along with the net change for this week vs. the previous week:

	Commodity					Weekly	Weekly
Month		06/03/11	06/10/11	06/17/11	06/24/11	Change	% Change
July	Corn	7.54	7.87	7.0025	6.7	0.3025	4.32%
July	CBOT Wheat	7.7375	7.5925	6.7225	6.3575	0.3650	5.43%
July	KCBT Wheat	9.1425	8.68	8.045	7.485	0.5600	6.96%
July	MGEX Wheat	10.605	10	8.9725	8.26	0.7125	7.94%
July	Soybeans	14.145	13.8725	13.33	13.2025	0.1275	0.96%
July	Soybean Meal	368.4	373.3	349	339.9	9.1000	2.61%
July	Soybean Oil	58.73	56.85	55.92	55.22	0.7000	1.25%
June	Live Cattle	104.175	102.725	109.75	113.05	3.3000	3.01%
Aug	Feeder Cattle	124.25	123.625	132.65	138.6	5.9500	4.49%
July	Lean Hogs	87.85	93.225	95.65	96	0.3500	0.37%
July	Cotton	161.63	150.03	145.18	165.22	20.0400	13.80%
July	Oats	3.78	3.955	3.515	3.355	0.1600	4.55%
July	Rice	14.475	14.895	13.965	13.45	0.5150	3.69%

Cattle futures rose 3% for the week. Cash cattle trade was slow to develop, but came at higher money. It should, with the wholesale prices up more than $5.00 per hundred pounds. Actually, June futures matched the choice cutout value, which was up 3% on a Friday/Friday basis. Estimated beef production for the week was up 2.1% over the same week in 2010, but down 0.2% from the prior week. One big story for the week was the surge in US beef export sales, which was behind the rise in the product value. USDA reported net weekly sales for the week ending June 16 at 23,070 MT. That was the largest weekly sale since February 17. The Year to date shipments total of 350,900 MT wasn’t met until Labor Day in 2010.

Lean Hogs were the second strongest commodity on our list after cotton, gaining 4.49% for the week. The cutout value of a hog set an all time high on Thursday at $99.27/cwt, and so did cash hog prices. The cutout value was up 3.44% for the week. Pork production YTD is up 1% from last year, but was down an estimated 2.2% this week vs. the previous week. Average carcass weight continues to run about 4 pounds above last year, allowing the extra pork tonnage despite smaller overall slaughter. Hog producers are showing just a whiff of expansion, with Friday’s Hogs & Pigs report showing the breeding herd at 100.3% of last year. The number of market hogs in the pipeline was 0.6% larger than last year. On the other hand, June-August farrowing intentions are smaller than the trade had expected.

Market Watch: We start the coming week with USDA export inspections and the well followed weekly Crop Progress and condition reports. Some grain traders will also be wrestling with surprise futures positions acquired via options exercises on Friday. THE news of the week for grains will be made on Thursday morning, when USDA releases the Planted Acreage and Grain Stocks reports. The former will not be complete by any stretch of the imagination, since there were big chunks of farmland unplanted in the first week of June. It should give us a better handle on how much the big WCB states exceeded their March intentions, but could overstate acres in the problem areas. The Grain Stocks report will be the final Ending Stocks number for wheat for 2010/11, and will tell corn and soybean users how much additional price rationing is required for June-August in order to make it to new crop supplies that will hopefully be ready by September.

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