Latest on Commodities

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The Chinese government has long been one of the biggest buyers of U.S. treasury bonds, and this has fueled all sorts of speculation about how the world’s largest nation was going to take over the United States. This isn’t how treasuries work at all, and this fear is unfounded, although if the U.S. government were to default on their bonds, there could be some major issues. Luckily, there is a zero percent chance of this happening.

However, recent data shows that China is backing away from buying treasuries. This could be a cause for alarm for many investors. China is the largest creditor to the United States right now. Of the $13+ trillion in deficit money that the U.S. has right now, China holds the largest portion of it, mostly in the form of treasuries. ...continue reading →

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Just when traders start to think that oil’s price can’t go anywhere but up, new data puts crude under pressure all over again. The most recent complication in rising crude prices is that the U.S.’s oil reserves are near an all time high point, about 488 million barrels. This is 105 million more barrels than what were being stored at this point last year, and it is only 2.7 million short of the all time record of 490.9 million.

This report, released by API, comes right ahead of OPEC’s meeting later this week in Vienna. Oil has been on a steady drop over the last couple years, fall from well over $100 per barrel, to hitting below $40 a couple times this year. OPEC countries benefit from higher oil prices, but Saudi Arabia—the world’s leading oil exporter—is pumping out more oil than ever before. ...continue reading →