| 'MAD' JIM CRAMER LOSES GOLDEN $50K BET
The host of CNBC's "Mad Money" now owes $50,000 after losing one of the worst wagers of his entire career to rival trading wiz Eric Bolling. Cramer, who favors the phrase "Boo Ya," made an on-air bet with Bolling about a year ago that financial services would be the hottest sector of 2007. Bolling, a former trader at the New York Mercantile Exchange, placed his money on oil and gold. Investors who took Cramer's advice would have taken a 30 percent hit to their portfolios as the stocks of financial titans such as Citigroup and Merrill Lynch got hammered by the mortgage crisis. On the other hand, investors savvy enough to follow Bolling's bet on gold and oil would have hit the jackpot, as the hot commodities jumped over 60 percent in the same period. Cramer, through a spokesman, blamed his loss on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's failure to cut interest rates more aggressively.
American Stock Exchange Lists GreenHaven Continuous Commodity Index ...
NEW YORK, Jan. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Stock Exchange(R) (Amex(R)) announced today that it has launched trading in the GreenHaven Continuous Commodity Index Fund (AMEX: GCC) , managed by GreenHaven Commodity Services, LLC. GCC aims to track the performance of the Continuous Commodity Total Return Index, an equal weighted basket of 17 commodities (corn, wheat, soybeans, live cattle, lean hogs, gold, platinum, silver, copper, cocoa, coffee, sugar, cotton, orange juice, crude oil, heating oil and natural gas). Reuters America, LLC owns and calculates the Index. "The American Stock Exchange is pleased to welcome and support GreenHaven as they enter the ETF marketplace," said Scott Ebner, Senior Vice President of the Amex's ETF marketplace. "GCC reflects a growing investor interest in commodity linked products." Ashmead Pringle, President of GreenHaven Commodity Services, LLC, stated, "Increasingly, many investors have concluded that commodities are an asset class that should be represented in a balanced portfolio.
CME bid spurs fears of merger monster
THE commodities boom is intensifying the merger mania among the world's financial exchanges. But the $US11 billion ($12.4 billion) bid by CME Group to acquire Nymex Holdings may fuel worries that consolidation is leaving the survivors with too much power. A purchase of the 135-year-old New York Mercantile Exchange's owner by CME, parent of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, would create the largest exchange in the world, with a stock market value of about $US45 billion. And acquiring Nymex's crude oil futures, one of the largest commodity contracts in the world, would fill the last major hole in the 110-year-old Chicago exchange's product line-up, while squeezing remaining rivals in the energy market. The deal also highlights some unsettling consequences of the global scramble for alliances and market share in trading financial securities.
Barclays Launches Eight Commodity Sub-Sector iPath(R) Exchange Traded ...
NEW YORK, Oct. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Barclays Bank PLC announced today the launch of eight new iPath(R) Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs) on the NYSE Arca stock exchange. The iPath ETNs are the first Exchange Traded Notes designed to offer exposure to sub-indexes of the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index(SM). They are linked to agriculture, copper, energy, grains, industrial metals, livestock, natural gas, and nickel. "The new iPath sub-sector ETNs provide investors with access to harder-to- reach markets," said Philippe El-Asmar, Head of Investor Solutions, Americas at Barclays Capital. "Investments in iPath Exchange Traded Notes surpassed $3.6 billion in just under 16 months from inception, and we believe these new ETNs will continue to attract attention particularly with daily creations and redemptions available since October 1, 2007." "The new iPath ETNs demonstrate Barclays continued commitment to providing investors with innovative investment solutions to the commodity markets," added Benoit de Vitry, Head of Commodities, Emerging Markets Rates and Quantitative Analytics at Barclays Capital.
Wall Street advances sharply
Gold futures hit a record, briefly venturing above $913 an ounce as the dollar tumbled against other major currencies. The euro reached a new high above $1.49.Other commodities were higher, too. Crude oil rose $1.51 to settle at $94.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Peter Dunay, investment strategist at Leeb Capital Management, believes the run in commodities prices will continue as Wall Street eyes what the Federal Reserve will do at its Jan. 29-30 meeting. Chairman Ben Bernanke has convinced investors the central bank will cut rates, and the expectation of cheaper money also bolstered sentiment Monday``We're expecting inflation to be a problem, and believe the commodity demand is going to continue,'' Dunay said. ``We think the Fed is going to throw as much money as they can to keep us out of recession, or keep the recession mild, so commodities will be higher.''Stocks sold off sharply last week after a chorus of Wall Street economists predicted the U.S.
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