Tuesday, January 10, 2012

And That's Why We Don't Trade Orange Juice: "Commodities Near Their Highest for a Month; Orange Juice Soars"

Natural gas? Sure. Electricty? Call me Sparky. Copper? C.U. Pric at your service.
Wheat, corn, beans, hides, tallow, wool? Strip, strap, straddle and spread.
[strips and straps are old-fashioned terms for what polite company calls option combinations -ed]

O.J.? No way. I was kidding with yesterday's:
"Time for a little Trading Places? FCOJ closed limit up, +5.63% at 187.75. That is the second or third limit up in the last week."
pity the poor guy who got short at $1.29 last week: limit up, limit up, limit up...

From Bloomberg:
Commodities (SPGSCI) rose to near the highest in more than a month after orange juice jumped to the most expensive price in 15 years.

The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index of 24 commodities gained as much as 1.5 percent to 672.47, less than one point from its highest since Jan. 5, which was the most in seven weeks. It was at 668.85 as of 2.55 p.m. in London. Cocoa rose to a six-week high in London on speculation processing figures this week will signal stronger demand as dry weather may damage crops in West Africa. White sugar advanced.

“In general it’s quite positive across the board, including precious and base metals, and crude,” Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB AB, said in a telephone interview from Oslo. “It’s not a pure commodities move as the different segments are highly correlated with equities and the weaker U.S. dollar.”
French business confidence climbed from a two-year low last month and industrial output increased in November, indicating the threat of a recession in the euro-region’s second-biggest economy is easing. Consumer borrowing in the U.S. surged in November by the most in 10 years, showing households are optimistic enough to take on debt and banks are willing to lend.

Orange juice for March delivery on ICE Futures U.S. rose 20 cents, the most allowed by the exchange, to $2.0775 a pound, the highest for a most-active contract since March 1997....MORE
The Wall Street Journal does a deeper dive into the juice story:
Orange Juice Futures Surge 
The Food and Drug Administration is testing orange juice for a fungicide and says it will order the product removed from the market if it poses a public health risk.


Futures of frozen orange juice concentrate in New York surged on concerns that the presence of the fungicide could crimp supplies. January-delivery orange juice hit $2.12 per pound, the highest front-month price since November 1977. The more actively-traded March contract was recently trading 10.7% higher at $2.0775 per pound on ICE Futures U.S....MORE