From a high of around $4.60/pound in February of 2011, copper prices have fallen around $3.60/pound today, which is actually better than the price of around $3.40/pound at the beginning of the year. Copper…
The World Gold Council has released its summary of the first quarter’s price performance for the yellow metal. The Council noted a few macroeconomic trends that had an impact on the price of gold…
Just yesterday we noted that coal stocks were getting a nice boost based on the expectation that the stocks had just about hit bottom. One day does not a trend make, but there’s really…
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (NYSE: GWR) this morning released its traffic volume report for March and for the first quarter of 2012. The news is not good, but it’s also not unexpected. The company’s…
When the largest coal company in the US, Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) paid about $5 billion for Australia’s MacArthur Coal last year, it basically committed itself to Australia’s Bowen Basin. Then Peabody hired…
Coal prices are getting a nice bump today after a long slide. Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU), Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI), Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR), Patriot Coal Co. (NYSE: PCX), James…
Farm and ranch retailer Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO) reported first quarter sales this morning and absolutely crushed expectations. Total sales reached $1.02 billion, sharply above estimates of $937.4 million. Same-store sales rose 11.5%.…
US coal miners exported 107 million tons of coal in 2011, most of it to Asia. That’s nearly double total US coal exports just five years earlier, and the shipments brought in about $16…
Before you panic about inflation in this reading, you might want to consider that many commodity prices have already backed off in recent days. Still, the reading for commodity import prices rose by 1.3%…
BHP Billiton plc (NYSE: BHP) today announced the closing of its Norwich Park metallurgical coal mine in Queensland. The mine is one of six owned and operated by a 50/50 partnership between Billiton and…
Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE: AA) has managed to pull a rabbit out of its hat and it is the good kind. The aluminum giant and DJIA component just reported earnings of $94 million or $0.09…
Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE: AA) is set to report earnings after the close on Tuesday and this will both be the first DJIA component to report earnings and it may set the tone for earnings…
Concerns about the global economic recovery and the ability of emerging markets, especially China, to keep growing are affecting prices for many commodities, including coal. Adding to coal’s problem is that US electricity generation…
Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP) may have sold off in recent days but there is some better news for the long-term outlook of this company’s business prospects pertaining to rare earth minerals. While it has…
There is no point in arguing about it. Gold and silver are just the wrong trades in the current state of the markets. Hope may be near for support, but there are risks to having…