A common question I receive is if I am aware of a reputable company which allows electronic trading of the traditional commodities such as Oil, Grains, Meats, Metals, and also Index futures such as S&P’s, Dow, Nasdaq, and Russell. At the trade show in Ontario, CA last week I met with Mark Monaco, who is the Head of sales for Prime Investments LLC and also Ehedger, both Introducing Brokers at the Chicago Board of Trade in Chicago, Illinois. I used to work with Mark and know him to be a good man and an excellent trader. Mark showed me his company’s trading platform and told me about his company’s background of 40 years trading at the CBOT and expertise in trading grains as his company’s owners are third generation corn and soybean farmers in Northern Illinois, they not only understand the technicals of trading, but also …

Friday was Day #2 of our most recent attempted rally. A tame CPI report helped boost stocks throughout much of the day. The hiccup of the day came starting after lunch where we say selling hit the markets. Many market pundits, including RevShark were calling for the demise of the morning rally. Intraday trading like this is dangerous and RevShark and other s were proven wrong. Stocks were able to gather steam and close on the highs of the day. Extremely bullish movement by the markets, but the caveat was volume. Volume declined crossed the board, lessening the impact of the bullish price action. Tuesday will market Day #4 of the attempted rally and where we’ll need to see confirmation of this new rally attempt. Crude Oil, Natural Gas, and now Agriculture and Grains are joining commodities that are continuing their recent ...

Financials continue to feel max pain as major banks continue to be hammered by selling. The exotic forms of investment continue to haunt those firms who were careless and did not handle risk properly. Selling has spread throughout the rest of the market as Crude Oil prices race higher. We are also seeing Grains and Agriculture futures point higher as well. These markets have and continue to signal higher inflation. The markets haven’t quite seen a peak in fear, a washout of the markets is highly likely. Along the lines of a washout will more than likely be proceeded by crude oil entering in superspike mode. The market is in chaos mode and can not be trusted. Financials might continue their trend but the short trade has become so obvious a sharp covering rally could wipe you clean. So few stocks are working ...

We've been on this beat for a long time, but more and more the world is waking up to the crisis ahead. We need higher yields, immediately - worldwide. And will continue to need higher yields to support all these humans coming online, especially the ones moving to middle class. [Apr 30: Finally, a Year Late Fertilizer Hits the Front Page of the NYTimes] ... again, I state this planet is not well suited for 6.5 Billion people unless 4.5 Billion live in abject poverty. The more wealth in this world and the more people move from poverty to "middle class" (we wouldn't call it that necessarily in the US), the more strains on the globe. We will have crisis after crisis until/if/when technological breakthroughs happen... but I believe the next 1-10 years will be fraught with crisis after crisis as world governments ...