How is the cowgirl going to deal with this problem? Consult her witch-
doctor perhaps?
Commodities crumble weekly loss worst in 50 years
October 4, 2008 - 9:27AM
Gasoline, silver and corn drove commodities to their biggest weekly
decline in more than five decades on concern that a $US700 billion
($900 billion) financial rescue plan won't prevent a US recession,
dragging down global demand.
Futures measured by the Reuters/
Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials tumbled 10% this week, the
most since at least 1956. President George W. Bush signed a
financial-
company rescue bill into law today in a bid to stave off a US
recession as manufacturing weakened and the Labor Department said
employers cut the most jobs in five years in September.
Crude oil fell.
``Panic, risk aversion and liquidation of contracts
are characterizing the oil market as well as many other markets at
the
moment,'' said Thina Saltvedt, a Nordea Bank AB analyst in Oslo.
``Prices are not only being set by fundamentals, but fears of how
crises in the financial sector may spread to other parts of the
economy.''
Crude oil slid 12% this week, the most since December
2004. The contract for November delivery slipped 9 cents, or 0.1%, to
settle at $US93.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange,
after
touching $US91.30 earlier, the lowest in two weeks. The price fell
later in the day.
The UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index of 26 raw
materials fell 10%, the most ever, amid skepticism that the financial
rescue plan won't do enough to stimulate economic growth and demand
for commodities.
UBS AG, the European bank hardest hit by the credit
crisis, said today it scaled down its commodities business and cut
jobs, retaining only the precious-metals operations, the commodity
indexing unit, and exchange-traded commodity derivatives trade.
`Demand destruction'
``If global equity markets continue to trend
lower, they should remain the overwhelming force and most commodities
are likely to suffer as demand destruction and economic contraction
become paramount,'' Michael McGlone, a director in commodity indexing
at Standard & Poor's in New York, said today in a report.
Copper rose in New York, capping five straight declining sessions,
while it still fell 13% for the week, the worst slide since at least
1988. Futures for December delivery climbed 6.25 cents, or 2.4%, to
$US2.69 a pound on the Comex division of the Mercantile Exchange.
``There are three commodities I watch for weakness: steel, iron ore
and copper and all continue to weaken,'' said Daniel Brebner,
executive director of commodity research at UBS AG in London. ``The
news flow is likely to continue to push those commodities in the same
direction over the near term.''
Employers eliminated 159,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department
said, 51% more than the median 105,000 forecast by economists in a
Bloomberg News survey. The jobless rate held at a five-year high of
6.1%, matching forecasts.
Commodities `under pressure'
A ``very weak'' non-farm payrolls number could see commodities
``remain under pressure,'' Walter de Wet, a Standard Bank Group Ltd.
analyst in Johannesburg, said in an e-mailed comment late yesterday.
Commodities also fell as the euro slumped 5.8% against the dollar,
the
biggest one-week drop since the 15- nation currency was created in
1999, on signs that Europe's economy is slowing. Manufacturing
contracted in the U.K. at the fastest pace in 16 years last month,
while European retail sales fell an annual 1.8% rate in August and
France slipped into a recession in the third quarter, the first in 15
years.
Under the rescue law signed by President Bush today, companies can
sell illiquid assets to the government. The plan was designed to
unclog credit markets rocked by record home foreclosures and to
contain the spreading financial crisis.
Gasoline futures for November delivery fell 2.67 cents, or 1.2%, to
settle at $US2.2283 a gallon in New York, capping a 16% plunge for
the
week, the most since at least 2005.
Silver futures for December delivery rose 20 cents, or 1.8%, to
$US11.32 an ounce in New York, rebounding from a 13% drop yesterday.
The metal still fell 16% for the week, the most since March.
Corn futures for December delivery were unchanged at $US4.54 on the
Chicago Board of Trade. Most-active futures fell 16% for the week,
the
most since June 1986.
Bloomberg News
On Oct 4, 11:31 pm, Frank <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Its like eulogizing over a turd. Sarah Palin is a backward, ignorant
> neanderthal that consults god every morning, while supporting the war
> in Iraq.
>
> You people are brain dead red neck hicks.
>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> > October 04, 2008
> > By James Lewis
> > americanthinker.com
>
> > It's Frontier Woman vs. Metrosexual Chic! Hold your breath -- who is
> > going to win this clash of the archetypes? This is not just a matter
> > of style -- Frontier Woman triggers a host of very real American
> > associations -- self-reliance, strong family bonds, courage in the
> > face of danger, moral strength, independent thinking.
>
> > On the other side, Metro Chic has its own hold on our Effete Elites.
> > It all comes down to the Western Enlightenment versus Metro
> > Socialism.
>
> > Sarah Palin is a mythic figure out of the American imagination. That
> > why she scares the Effetes and Corruptocrats. She's John Wayne and
> > Annie Oakley all rolled into one. Governor Palin is America's
> > Everywoman, who faced and defeated the Corruptocrats in Alaska. Now
> > she is heading up Main Street along with maverick John McCain, the
> > Arizona sheriff, as the comfortable townsfolk are hiding scared under
> > their beds.
>
> > And that big cattle baron on the hill? He's sneakily trying to
> > undermine and destroy the Girl Deputy. He controls the newspapers and
> > spreads vicious rumors, just his usual way of doing business. That's
> > the meaning of the Credit "Crisis" and the packed hog sausage Congress
> > just made, supposedly to save us from the Fraud Crisis. We have just
> > seen the cover ripped off an open Washington DC secret --- the blatant
> > ongoing exploitation by Democrats of Freddie and Fannie Home Fraud,
> > which you and I will be paying for, for years to come.
>
> > Nothing could better symbolize the clash between our values and
> > theirs. There's Franklin Raines, the 90 million dollar slickster, who
> > told Congress a few years ago that Fannie and Freddie just made free
> > money. Home loans carried no risk! Just open the spigot and it's beer
> > and hog bellies for everybody.
>
> > Would you buy a used buggy whip from these guys? From Barack Obama's
> > "home mortgage advisor" Jim Johnson? From Barney Frank's boyfriend at
> > Fannie?
>
> > But it's not just the F & F Fraud; it's the phony oil crisis, the
> > global warming hyper-scam, the constant purchase of cheap Leftie votes
> > from the poor, unfortunate and easily suckered, the vicious Eternal
> > Establishment at CIA and Treasury, plus the foreign Rogues Gallery in
> > North Korea, Iran and Russia, and lastly our cowardly "allies" in
> > Europe, all topped off with an endless flow of media lies...
>
> > You name it, it all comes down to another mythic metaphor --- the
> > stinking Augean Stables of Washington, DC. In Greek myth it took
> > Hercules to divert a river to wash out the Stables. We could use a few
> > fresh Alaska snowstorms to help out here. The Potomac River is way too
> > polluted.
>
> > But the Corruptocrats can see Mac the Sheriff and Sarah the Deputy
> > walking up Main Street, and they've been taking potshots over and over
> > again. They've been at it for a long time, enough to make old Sheriff
> > Bush nearly helpless after eight years of daily abuse.
>
> > Is help finally on the way?
>
> > You'll see the bullets flying hot and heavy in the last four weeks
> > before November 4. Get ready to duck and weave, and answer them back
> > if you can get a clear shot.
>
> > Vote to Save the West on November 4.
>
> > That's "West" as in "Western Civilization."
>
> > It's all going to come down to you.
>
> > Which side are you on?
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