Commodities' Dilemma: Strong Demand or Trade War Fears?
The tug-of-war between fundamentals and sentiment appears to be getting stronger for many commodities as the market tries to reconcile factors such as robust demand numbers from China and increasingly worrying rhetoric and actions from the United States. Iron ore, steel and copper all performed well on Wednesday after Chinese data showed real estate investment and industrial output rising at a faster than expected pace. Spot iron ore prices in China <.IO62-CNO=MB> rose 2.7 percent to close at $71.64 a tonne…
Muddy Waters Shorts Noble Group on Accounting Issues
Noble's stock falls to 1-1/2 year-low, bonds drop. Noble Group came under heightened scrutiny on Thursday after U.S. based Muddy Waters unveiled a short position in the Singapore-listed company, which is already under fire from an anonymous research outfit for its accounting policies. Shares in Noble, one of Asia's biggest commodity traders, tumbled as much as 9.3 percent to their lowest since September 2013 in heavy trade, and its bonds fell immediately after the report from investment research firm Muddy Waters.
US Grants First Medal on Energy to Oil Historian Yergin
As the U.S. drilling boom helps drive global crude prices to two-year lows, the Obama administration has awarded the country's first medal for energy security to oil historian and business founder Daniel Yergin. Yergin, 67, received the Schlesinger Medal for Energy Security from Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz in a ceremony on Wednesday. The annual award is named after James Schlesinger, who in 1977 became the first U.S. energy secretary. Yergin advised Schlesinger as the country went through an oil price shock resulting from the Iranian revolution.
