Commodity Investors Beware: Copper, Gold, Silver Sitting In Steep ...

Jared Cummans: When it comes to commodity trading, few words are more serious in an investor?s vocabulary than contango. This phenomenon has been known to burn a hole in positions and cause problems for those who were not amply prepared.?By definition, contango is the process whereby near month futures are cheaper than those expiring further into the future, creating an upward sloping curve for future prices over time. The reason behind this is most often attributed to storage costs; storing barrels of oil or bushels of corn isn?t cheap and the costs have to be passed down the line. Below, we outline three commodities currently exhibiting contango to help keep investors up to date on the current futures environment [see also?Jim Rogers Says: Buy Commodities Now, Or You?ll Hate Yourself Later].

Copper

Copper futures (NYSEARCA:JJC), which are among the most popular in the world, are facing a steep upward slope that refuses to let up until February of 2014. This may imply that markets are assuming a further recovery in the construction and industrial sectors of the world, but that may still be a ways off. Recent news has begun to call into question the growth of emerging nations like China and India (both of whom are major consumers of the metal) so this futures curve could get turned?on its head in a hurry.

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Gold

Gold has long been the world?s favorite metal as it has been used as a store of value and a safe haven for quite some time. But in recent years, gold?s uses have added ?speculative instrument? to an already impressive resume. Now, many traders like to utilize gold to make bets on markets as well as action from the Fed and central banks around the world. Currently, gold futures are sitting in contango through June of 2018, as far out as they are offered. It seems that a third round of quantitative easing and historical momentum have figured in a?massive appreciation for gold?in the coming years, now the only question that is left is whether you buy in to that theory or not. Of course, if contango bothers you, the physically-backed SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) is always a good alternative.

Silver

The other precious metal, silver is often overshadowed by the performance and prevalence of gold. In reality, this white metal is a much more practical option than its precious counterpart as silver has a hefty presence in the industrial world and is also considered a safe haven investment; all at a relatively low price tag to boot. Currently, silver is faced with contango all the way through December of 2013, giving investors a year and a half to consider a position. Those too shy to dabble in futures are always welcome to try the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) which tracks physical bullion [see also?25 Ways To Invest In Silver].

Written By Jared Cummans From CommodityHQ??Disclosure: No Positions.

CommodityHQ offers educational content, analysis, and commentary on global?commodity?markets. Whether you?re looking to speculate on a short-term jump in crude or establish a long-term allocation to?natural resources, CommodityHQ has the information you need.

NYSE:GLD, NYSE:JJC, NYSE:SLV

Source: http://etfdailynews.com/2012/07/14/commodity-investors-beware-copper-gold-silver-sitting-in-steep-contango-gld-slv-jjc/

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Intense solar storm bombarding Earth now

A strong solar storm is battering the Earth now and could amplify the planet's northern lights displays.

The solar storm is cosmic fallout from a massive solar flare on Thursday that included a powerful eruption on the sun, known as a coronal mass ejection. The eruption sent a wave of charged solar plasma toward Earth, which was expected to arrive sometime between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. EDT (0900 and 1400 GMT), according to forecasts by NASA and the NOAA-run Space Weather Prediction Center.

Space Weather officials said the solar storm could trigger a level G2 geomagnetic storm on Earth, a moderate-level event that could spark auroras at latitudes as low as New York or Idaho, after 9 a.m. EDT. Most northern lights displays, which occur when charged solar particle interact with Earth's upper atmosphere, are confined to high-latitude regions around the polar regions by the planet's magnetic field.

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"Weekend auroras are likely," the space weather-tracking website Spaceweather.com wrote in an alert.

This weekend's solar storm originated from one of the most powerful sun flares to occur this year. The flare registered as an X1.4-class sun storm, one of the strongest flares the sun can unleash. It marked the sixth X-class solar flare of 2012.

The solar storm erupted from the giant sunspot AR1520, or Active Region 1520, which is actually a group of sunspots that at its peak may have stretched across 186,000 miles of the sun's surface, NASA scientists have said.

The Space Weather Prediction Center is keeping a close watch on AR1520, as well as several other active spots on the sun, for signs of more activity.

"All eyes are on the solar wind data to note the expected passage on Saturday of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from Thursday's solar event," center officials wrote in an update late Friday.

The solar storm is not expected to pose a major risk to satellites and spacecraft in orbit, or power systems on Earth, officials have said.

The sun is currently in the middle of an active phase in its 11-year sunspot cycle. The current cycle is known as Solar Cycle 24 and expected to peak in 2013.

Editor's note: If you snap a photo of sunspot AR1520 or any amazing northern lights photos and you'd like to share them for a possible story or image gallery, please send images and comments to managing editor Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com.

Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

? 2012 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48183944/ns/technology_and_science-space/

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JP Morgan Reports Trading Losses Of $5.8 Billion From London 'Tempest'

Finance chief Doug Braunstein put the trading loss at $5.8 billion and confirmed that the bank believed it could lose between $800 million and $1.7 billion more as it tried to unwind the complex bets.

"We have put most of this problem behind us and we can now focus our full energy on what we do best ? serving our clients and communities around the world," Dimon said in a statement.

JP Morgan reported net income of $4.96 billion, or $1.21 a share, compared with $5.43 billion, or $1.27 a share, a year earlier.

It also cut its previously reported first-quarter earnings by $459 million, or 8.5%, after reviewing information that "raises questions about the integrity" of the CIO's credit portfolio. Dimon said there more losses to come of between $800 million and $1.6 billion.

At the analysts meeting, Dimon called the problem "isolated".

"At some point, I'd like people to actually focus on the underlying businesses ? that's why we are here," he said.

Dimon initially dismissed reports about losses at the London operation as a "tempest in a teapot". On Friday he conceded the trading mess had "shaken our company to the core".

The bank said Friday that it recently discovered information that suggests some individuals at the company may have tried to hide the full amount of the losses.

Mike Cavanagh, who headed the investigation of the London office, told analysts that the level of scrutiny at the London office "did not evolve commensurate with increasing complexity".

He said that Ina Drew, JP Morgan's chief investment officer, who oversaw the division responsible for the loss, had relied on traders assurances about their investments. "CIO failed to meet reasonable expectations," he said.

Drew left the bank days after the disclosure of the losses. In 2011, her pay package totaled $15 million. Dimon said that her compensation, and those of three other executives, had been "clawed back".

The bank refused to give details on how much money had been forfeited by Drew or her former colleagues.

Dimon also moved to dismiss suggestions that the Libor investigation could prove as damaging to JP Morgan as it has to Barclays. Barclays has received a record fine and has axed its top three executives in the wake of the scandal.

"All I can say, like with all of these things, we are totally open with regulators," said Dimon. "I'd be a little patient if I were you. Not every company is in the same position."

Investors shrugged off the news. JP Morgan's shares rose more than 4% in early trading to $35.53. Analysts were encouraged by Dimon's comments on the US economy. JP Morgan's loans to small businesses were up 35% year on year.

"The fact is the economy isn't that bad for corporate America," said Dimon.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Warren Buffett, investment guru and chief of the Berkshire Hathaway investment company, said: "In terms of the loss from a transaction of that size, my guess is they pretty well worked out of it by now. It is a whole lot of money but it's not that significant, relative to JP Morgan."

Intellpuke: You can read this article by Guardian U.S. Business Correspondent Dominic Rushe, reporting from New York City, N.Y., in context here: www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jul/13/jp-morgan-doubles-reported-loss

Source: http://freeinternetpress.com/story/JP-Morgan-Reports-Trading-Losses-Of-58-Billion-From-London-Tempest-35416.html

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At least 3 water rescues made in Texas flooding

By Juan A. Lozano
The Associated Press

HOUSTON ??Historic rainfall levels that drenched the Houston area this week flooded dozens of homes and caused widespread street flooding, but the rain also is likely to result in the end of drought conditions in Southeast Texas, officials said Friday.

Officials estimated that less than 100 homes were flooded after Cypress Creek, located in the northwest part of the Houston area, rose above its banks after getting about 14 inches of rain over the past couple of days, said Francisco Sanchez, a spokesman for the Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

County officials were still trying to reach flooded neighborhoods on Friday to better assess the damage, but initial reports had homes affected anywhere from a few inches to a couple of feet of water, Sanchez said.

"Some areas along Cypress Creek got more rain in the last 24 hours than in Hurricane Ike (in 2008) or from major flooding in 1998," Sanchez said.

Gary Whitaker Jr., who lives in one of the areas affected by Cypress Creek, said street flooding in his neighborhood had started to recede on Friday but a nearby subdivision still had streets that were impassable.? Water from the creek was flowing "like a waterfall" across one street and into a golf course, he said.

"Quite a few people in our subdivision couldn't go to work today. They couldn't get out (due to flooded streets). It was pretty risky," he said.

Whitaker, 36, who lives in Cypress, an unincorporated area in northwest Harris County, said there were no reports of flooded homes in his neighborhood.

The American Red Cross in Houston sent out workers Friday to affected neighborhoods to assess the flooded homes, said spokesman Cameron Ballantyne. The agency had not opened any shelters.

In Montgomery County, located just north of Harris County, officials reported seven to eight flooded homes.

A shelter had been opened in Montgomery County at Living Stones Church in Magnolia, but church secretary Linda Arnold said no residents had used the facility.

In Waller County, located west of Harris County, less than 10 homes had been flooded with 1 to 4 feet of water, said Brian Cantrell, the county's emergency management coordinator. Authorities also conducted three water rescues of people who got into high water with their vehicles. He said no one was injured.

Victor Murphy, a climate expert with the National Weather Service, said one rain gage on the border of Harris and Waller counties recorded 10.3 inches of rain in a 10 hour period.

Murphy said that amount of precipitation within that short period of time suggests that area experienced a "100-year rainfall event," which caused Cypress Creek to overflow.

Other areas in Southeast Texas also got large amounts of rain, including just west of Bay City in Matagorda County, which received about 18 inches this past week.

"Rainfall in the entire (Southeast Texas) area this week was in the 8 to 10 inch category," he said. "The average weekly rainfall for this time of year is about 1 inch or so."

While the current U.S. Drought Monitor shows some parts of Southeast Texas as being abnormally dry, that does not include this week's rainfall totals.

"When the next U.S. Drought Monitor comes out Thursday, there will not be any drought in Southeast Texas," Murphy said. Most of the rest of the state was expected to remain in drought conditions.

Even if Southeast Texas only experiences average rainfall or dry weather the rest of the summer, drought conditions should be kept at bay until at least the fall, Murphy said.

Sanchez said officials were hopeful Cypress Creek, which was still rising Friday, would eventually recede if the area was not inundated with more rain. Water levels at two other nearby creeks which had also flowed out of their banks, had started to fall.

Rain was forecast for this weekend but the chances of showers were expected to be lower than earlier this week.

___

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Associated Press writer Jamie Stengle in Dallas contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.firerescue1.com/rescue/articles/1314883-At-least-3-water-rescues-made-in-Texas-flooding/

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Georgia death row inmate seeks reprieve due to mental disability

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/georgia-death-row-inmate-seeks-reprieve-due-mental-222307493.html

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HBT: Phillies preparing 'substantial' offer for Hamels

According to ESPN?s Jayson Stark, the Phillies are preparing a ?substantial? offer for impending free agent Cole Hamels.

Exact details of the offer aren?t yet known, but Stark hears that the Phillies have had multiple internal discussions about whether to offer more than five guaranteed years. Previous reports have indicated that the club doesn?t have an issue with giving Hamels the yearly salary he covets, likely close to Cliff Lee?s $24 million AAV (average annual value), but they have been hesitant to go beyond five years.

The Phillies will almost certainly have to make a concession in years to have any chance to keep Hamels from testing the open market. He doesn?t turn 29 until December and is poised to land one of the richest contracts ever given to a pitcher.

With Chase Utley and Ryan Howard back and Roy Halladay expected to return soon, Stark hears the Phillies will wait up to two weeks before determining whether it?s time to sell off parts leading up to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. By then, they should have a pretty good indication of whether Hamels is receptive to their offer.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/12/report-phillies-preparing-substantial-offer-for-cole-hamels/related/

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PFT: Browns take Gordon in supplemental draft

Getty Images

Though avoiding blackouts has become a big issue for the NFL, it didn?t used to be that way.

As teams struggle with the blessing-turned-curse of deciding whether and to what extent the minimum threshold for selling non-premium seats should be dropped from 100 percent to as low 85 percent in order to avoid blackouts, we?ve gotten our hands on some historical numbers that are surprising, to say the least.

As many of you already know, the blackout percentage once was 100, because games were blacked out in the local market even if the games were sold out.? It?s a dynamic that forced fans who couldn?t or wouldn?t buy tickets to drive beyond the blackout zone to watch the game on TV, either at a hotel/motel/Holiday Inn or at the house of a relative or friend.? (You really need to click that link, if only to marvel at the smedium T-shirt ?big, bad Hank? is wearing.)

Once the blackout rule was adjusted in 1973 to exempt sellouts, plenty of games were still blacked out.

In 1974, only 82 of 182 total regular-season games were televised in the home team?s local market, which translates to a 53-percent blackout rate.? The next year, nearly 60 percent of games were blacked out in the home-team market, with only 75 of 182 games seeing the restriction lifted.

The number finally dropped to 50 percent in 1978, and went as low as 29 percent before the 1982 strike.? That pushed the number back to 46 percent, with a slow descent to 42 percent until the next strike hit in 1987.

The ?87 strike, which wiped out only one regular-season game but entailed several weeks of Shance Falco, Sean Payton, and friends, didn?t affect the steady reduction in blackouts.? In 1988, the rate was at 40 percent.? The percentage remained in the 30s through 1997, dropping to 25 percent in 1998.

In 1999, the percentage of games blacked out slid to 16 percent, and it hasn?t been any higher since then.? The record came in 2006, when only three percent of all games weren?t televised in the home team?s market, and 13 of 17 weeks entailed full sellouts, across the board.

The number inched up to four percent in 2007 and 2008 before dropping to nine percent in 2009 and 10 percent in 2010.? Last year, only six percent of games were blacked out.

Arguably, then, there?s no need for a relaxation in the rule.? During Friday?s PFT Live, I?ll offer up some theories/hypotheses/spitballs as to why the league made the change, and as to where it all may go from here.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/12/josh-gordon-lands-with-the-browns-as-a-second-round-pick/related/

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