Cold Snap In Europe

(Reuters) - A damaging global dry spell is wilting wheat crops in Kansas, threatening exports from Russia and slowing sowing in Australia, serving a timely reminder to hedge funds that a new era of surplus grain is far from assured. In their biggest surge since 1996, Chicago wheat prices jumped by more than 17 percent last week and reached a nearly 9-month high of more than $7 a bushel on Monday, a rally stoked by short-covering among big speculators -- a group that had amassed a near-record short position betting on falling prices. By Tuesday, six days of buying subsided as analysts said the immediate weather-induced panic yielded to a more considered view: conditions are not as dire - at least not yet - as they were in 2010, when world trade in wheat was sharply curtailed as growing ...

(Reuters) - Brent oil rose slightly on Tuesday and U.S. crude jumped more than 1.5 percent, bolstered by an unplanned outage at a Canadian oil sands plant and optimism about an agreement on Greece's debt problems. An Alberta plant that processes Canadian oil sands was expected to be shut for two or three weeks, adding lift for U.S. crude and helping narrow its deficit to Brent. Brent's premium to U.S. crude oil widened in early trade to more than $20 per barrel, its highest since October, before a brief but sharp reversal by Brent and a rally by the U.S. contract narrowed the spread back below $18 and left it at $17.82 based on settlements. "The spread got above $20 and it looks like some big players came in and pulled it back, then the dollar fell on expectations a Greece debt deal is ...

(Reuters) - Brent pared gains on Tuesday after rising above $117 per barrel to push its premium to U.S. crude above $20 a barrel, triggering profit taking and helping U.S. crude recover and rally. Fears that Iran would stop exports to the European Union in advance of the EU's embargo set for July, along with Europe's severe cold snap, had lifted Brent despite concerns Greece's debt crisis would result in curbed economic growth. U.S. crude had been weighed down by rising domestic stocks and tepid demand that was highlighted in recent government data. However, data has started painting an improving jobs picture that is more supportive to oil. Brent's premium to U.S. crude oil widened to more than $20 per barrel on Tuesday, its highest since October, then a sharp reversal by Brent and ...

(Reuters) - The euro was underpinned on Tuesday by hopes a way would be found to push through a second bailout deal for Greece, though fresh signs of exposure to Europe's economic troubles among leading banks rekindled investor unease, sending shares lower. U.S. stock index futures pointed to the unresolved Greek deal weighing on Wall Street at the open, ahead of Senate testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that may grab the spotlight at 1500 GMT (10 a.m. EST) after last week's strong jobs data. Greece's prime minister and leaders of its main political parties are set to resume talks later Tuesday on new austerity measures demanded by the EU in return for another bailout. The deal needs to be approved by February 15 if the money is to be available in time to meet a March ...

Brent crude prices rose to a near three-month peak on Friday in heavy volume trading after a report showed the U.S. economy in January created jobs at the fastest pace in nine months, fueling hopes of stronger demand in the top petroleum-consuming nation. Both Brent and U.S. crude extended gains late as the euro recovered against the dollar and as oil investors covered short positions ahead of the weekend, eyeing simmering tensions between tensions with the West over Tehran's nuclear program. Oil had initially rallied ahead of the jobs report after Iran's supreme leader warned of retaliation over "threats of oil embargo and war." "The euro came back and there were shorts being covered ahead of the weekend with the situations in Iran and Greece still out there," said Stephen Schork, ...

Where’s the Bastille…? The Dow got a boost yesterday — up 143 points. Gold remained where it was — about $1,617. Dear Readers know what we think. The Great Correction has a lot of work to do — there are so many things that need correction. And it will take time to do it. Meanwhile, your goal as an investor is to lose less money than everyone else. He who loses least wins! Stocks should go down. Real estate should go down. Even gold should go down…as the dollar goes up! Cash will be king… …until the revolution. What kind of revolution? When? Ah…dear reader…you’re asking a lot from a free service! But what the heck… We’re happy to tell you what we think. We just hope it’s worth at least what you paid for it. Here’s the way we see it. Cash is king in a de-leveraging, dis- ...

(Reuters) - The shutdown of a quarter of Japan's refining capacity and 11 of its 54 nuclear reactors following Friday's earthquake and tsunami has boosted global prices for fuel and natural gas. The expectation of higher Japanese demand for diesel and fuel oil has boosted refinery margins as well as differentials for crudes that yield a high amount of distillates. Differentials for fuel also rose on expectations of higher Japanese imports. In addition, natural gas prices rose on forecasts Japan's demand for liquefied natural gas(LNG) would increase for power generation. Below are details of the impact on energy markets: NATURAL GAS * UK gas for summer delivery rose 8 percent on Monday, hitting 64.60 pence per therm at 1400 GMT. Spot gas was up 7 percent at 63.50 pence, the highest ...

(Reuters) - The euro zone economy grew at the same quarterly rate in the fourth quarter as in the third, data showed on Tuesday, defying expectations of an acceleration. ECONOMISTS' COMMENTS: NICK KOUNIS, ECONOMIST AT ABN AMRO IN AMSTERDAM "The pace of activity may have been negatively impacted by adverse weather conditions. For instance, we estimate that the drop in construction output probably stripped 0.3 percentage points off German quarterly GDP growth, and there was probably a similar impact in some other member states. "However, these effects should not be exaggerated as there was also a positive influence of the weather in terms of energy consumption -- and production in some cases -- as well as other specific positive one-offs. "For example, French consumer spending benefited ...

(Reuters) - Oil extended gains on Thursday to hold under $92 a barrel, buoyed by signs of higher demand after U.S. crude stockpiles fell more than expected and a cold snap swept through the U.S. Northeast, the region's largest heating oil market. Reflecting the overall bullish sentiment, European benchmark ICE Brent crude held steady under $100 a barrel, but was off 27-month peaks hit in the previous session. The market will scour weekly U.S. employment data for more clues to the health of the world's largest economy. The data released so far has delivered mixed signals. While the country's unemployment rate has fallen by a hefty amount in December, far fewer workers were added than expected. "We're seeing a very strong market in crude after four consecutive sessions of gains. There are ...