Lord William Rees-Mogg, driving force behind the biweekly Fleet Street Invest newlsetter, analyzes the current state of the dollar, the euro and the future of gold – and why it will always be an attractive, tangible asset.

Lord William Rees-Mogg (Fleet Street Invest UK): In the last six months there has been a rebound of 50% in the great majority of world stock markets.

There has also been a comparable rebound in the price of oil, with West Texas oil rising very close to $80 a barrel. In the oil market there has been heavy two-way trading in options. There could be a sharp spike in the oil price if speculators have to cover their positions.

At the same time the US dollar has remained weak, and now stands at $1.4886 to the euro and $1.66628 to the pound. This is close to a 14-month low on a trade-weighted basis. The

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How To Play the Oil Conspiracy Theories

Tony Daltorio, Investment U Research

Despite the world’s economic growth woes this year and consequent decreased energy demand in the U.S., the price of oil has held up pretty well this year ($77 as of November 3) when you’d actually think that it would be lower.

What gives?

Fundamentalists will point to two factors…

Continued strong demand for oil from emerging markets. Decreasing oil output from non-OPEC producing nations such as Russia and Mexico.

Conspiracy theorists on the other hand, scoff at that notion. They blame it on the huge quantities that greedy oil companies hold offshore for no better reason than to increase their profits.

While I largely consider myself a fundamentalist, I decided to check it out, just in case there were any facts to support the complaints. And it first means asking a simple question…

Why would anyone

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This post is a guest contribution by Dian Chu*, market analyst, trader and author of the Economic Forecasts and Opinions blog.

Last Friday, US crude oil futures finished above $78, the highest level in a year, surging more than 9% during the past week making it the largest weekly gain since the height of the summer driving season, even though the US continues to sit on ample supply of petroleum.

Given the continued sluggishness of the economy, high unemployment rate and large amounts of excess oil production capacity around the world, analysts said a sudden upward spike was still unlikely, while others are predicting an immanent correction down below $70.

However, if you take a closer look, it is evident that the current crude oil market is almost entirely detached from fundamentals. Furthermore, there are several factors supporting oil rising to new levels, as fundamentals are

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Four Easy Ways to Trade the World’s Top Commodities

by Lee Lowell, Advisory Panelist

I’m going to open the door to a “secret society” for you today.

It’s a world shrouded in deep myths and folklore that include stories of people losing their homes, or having 5,000 bushels of soybeans dumped on their front lawn.

I’m talking about the commodities world, of course.

But despite these tall tales, commodities aren’t necessarily dangerous investments. Not if you know what you’re doing and take adequate precautions. Rather, the “secret society” stuff comes from the belief that the sector is a murky one that many investors simply don’t understand. Just the mere sound of “commodity futures and futures options contracts” was enough to send people running for cover…

However, nothing could be further from the truth when dealing with commodities. And over the past

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Peak Oil and Petrobras

Tony Daltorio, Investment U Research

Back on Wednesday, September 9, I wrote on how to profit from British Petroleum ADR (NYSE: BP)’s huge discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, and how to profit from peak oil.

And while I stand by the profitability of both that find and stock, I think I should clarify that “peak oil” really doesn’t exist anymore. So instead, let’s call it peak-cheap-and-easily-recoverable-oil instead, since that seems much more appropriate.

The days of cheap and accessible oil are long gone, but that very fact opens up rich opportunities for investors who face up to the realities of today’s oil market.

Possibly the biggest reality comes down to this: Giant oil fields are the industry’s lifeblood. Out of the world’s 70,000 oil fields, the largest twenty account for a quarter of global production.

That’s

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U.S. crude oil fell over 3 percent to below $70 a barrel on Friday as U.S. equities struggled for traction and raised fears about the economy and a recovery in energy demand.

U.S. crude for October delivery fell $2.20 to $69.74 by 1:24 p.m. EDT (1724 GMT) after rising to $72.90 in choppy trading. London Brent crude fell $2.10 to $67.76 a barrel.

“Crude put in a high for the week, but there was no follow-through and the dollar and S&P turned around and that helped pull crude back,” said Gene McGillian, analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.

U.S. stocks were hampered by profit taking after five days of gains and the longest winning streak since November which helped boost crude prices earlier in the week.

Analysts and traders say that current oil prices reflect attitudes in the market rather than fundamentals.

Data released Thursday by the U.S. government showed petroleum product inventories, including heating oil

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If you’re looking for what I call a “blast-off” move, look no further than the sugar market.

Since April, the commodity has embarked on an extreme upside move, shooting to highs not seen since sugar hit $0.45 per pound in 1981. The chart below illustrates it perfectly…

Sugar Chart: http://www.investmentu.com/images/sugar_082509.gif

The main reason for such a large jump was news from India, which indicated a potentially low sugar crop.

Over the past couple of weeks, the sugar market has surprised many analysts by trading even higher. I say that because while fundamental news like this often results in impressive-looking moves, its impact has a limited lifespan.

So be warned. Moves like this usually indicate that the news is factored into the price and we’re entering the last phase of the bullish run.

Based on my experience in

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These Three Commodities Are Set to Move… Are You Ready to Profit?

by Lee Lowell, Advisory Panelist

If you’re looking for what I call a “blast-off” move, look no further than the sugar market.

Since April, the commodity has embarked on an extreme upside move, shooting to highs not seen since sugar hit $0.45 per pound in 1981. The chart below illustrates it perfectly…

Sugar Chart: http://www.investmentu.com/images/sugar_082509.gif

The main reason for such a large jump was news from India, which indicated a potentially low sugar crop.

Over the past couple of weeks, the sugar market has surprised many analysts by trading even higher. I say that because while fundamental news like this often results in impressive-looking moves, its impact has a limited lifespan.

So be warned. Moves like this usually indicate that the

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In the last few columns, we’ve focused on sectors that typically see lots of action during the summertime. Most notably, this includes the “grains” (corn, wheat, soybeans), the “softs” (orange juice), and even natural gas. When you have commodities that are so susceptible to weather, you often see dramatic moves in one day, only for it to unwind the next day.

Take corn, for example. Prices rallied strongly early last week on drier than expected weather conditions, only to lose all of those gains by Friday.

But rather than lament situations like these that cause such erratic price movements, they actually offer a chance to profit. As I’ve said in the last few columns, the grain markets make for good speculative bullish trades, as they’re not only at the mercy of the weather, but are also trading at their most

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Oil has taken Wall Street on a roller coaster ride in the past week. The ride started with oil rising towards $72 ahead of inventory data and then falling below $71 after inventory data.

Oil fell toward $70 a barrel on Wednesday morning amidst U.S. government inventory data showing a build in crude stocks and weak economic data that raised concerns and doubts about oil demand recovery in the world’s largest energy consumer.

As example of these doubts was shown in U.S. light, sweet crude which fell 81 cents to $70.61 a barrel early in the day giving away some of the gains that helped oil rise 13 percent since last week.

U.S. crude inventories had a sharp rise last week which surprised many experts on Wall Street. According to weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), which was released on Wednesday, refinery runs eased while distillate stocks

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