Excluding the impacts of absorbing its recent acquisition of Bucyrus International, Inc., Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) posted an all-time high in sales, revenue, and profits in the third quarter. Even with those impacts, Caterpillar…
While Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) and ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) haven’t been pursuing Australia’s Macarthur Coal Ltd. (OTC: MACDF) for more than a few months, the deal never really looked like it would get done.…
Paper money was supposed to be dead, the dollar was supposed to implode, and hyperinflation from all of the bailout money and deficit spending was supposed to eat us alive. It was the perfect…
Companies focused on mining and metals have been experiencing high volatility this year based on both the overall global economy and, in some cases, expected demand, especially from China. We have looked at several…
Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) is going to be a case study for how strange this new earnings season is going to be. The company is not describing a recession. It is also describing a…
Coal company stock prices hit a five-year high in the summer of 2008, just before the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy sent the entire global economy into a tailspin. Five-year lows hit most companies before the…
In what appears to be a counterintuitive move, CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) today raised its margin requirements for copper futures contracts. The requirement rose by 15%, from $6,750 to $7,763 for an initial contract…
When rare earth minerals miner Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP) re-opened California’s Mountain Pass mine last year, the focus was on a variety of minerals known as the “light” rare earths. These minerals are used…
It has become the newest game on Wall Street in the last month to lower global growth targets for 2011 and 2012 over the last six weeks. What is amazing is that there is…
Fertilizer maker The Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) reported earnings for its first fiscal quarter of 2012 after markets closed yesterday, and the company posted earnings and revenues that were in-line or slightly better than…
Prospects for the global economy are currently as dark or darker than they’ve been since the financial crisis began three years ago. Consumers and investors likely see either another recession or at least a…
China’s Ministry of Agriculture said it will have to make an extraordinary effort to increase the nation’s supply of corn. That assumes the government can control the weather, the quality of seed, and the…
On the way up, you heard many $2,000 gold targets. On the way down, the dooms-day crowd not only gets bold but they come out of the woodwork. Monday marked another day of margin…
There is some very odd news out of Canada today. A plane wreck could have, or could, have an impact on the development of rare earth metals in North America. The good news is…
Owning gold or silver has been tricky up until recent years. It has also been a wild ride. Now with the flourishing ETFs, investors can buy the most liquid gold play in SPDR Gold…