Gold Chart of the Week

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Each week Longleaftrading.com will be providing us a chart of the week as analyzed by a member of their team. We hope that you enjoy and learn from this new feature.

WEEKLY GOLD REPORT (OCT 29th THROUGH NOVEMBER 2nd)

Before we rush into the pressing news about Hurricane Sandy and the closing of Wall Street today, let us quickly review a bit of the global news from last week. The week began with some promising news from China that suggested it was not in for as hard of a landing as many had previously suggested. We also saw a very surprising and positive GDP report from the UK. Next, the United States FOMC announcement was in line with its mediocre expectations, as economists expected few changes in policy ahead of the Presidential Election. The FED’s stance remained supportive, but the overall commitment was unchanged from the prior meeting. Despite an improvement in the US GDP report, the US markets remained pressured during a poor week of reported earnings and a circulating rumor that Fitch may look to cut ratings from AAA. Continue reading "Gold Chart of the Week" →

All US exchanges shut down before Hurricane Sandy

Posted on by The INO.com Team

U.S. stock trading will be closed on Monday and possibly Tuesday in response to Hurricane Sandy, NYSE Euronext said late on Sunday.

NYSE Euronext, which runs the New York Stock Exchange, had previously said that electronic trading would remain open and that only the exchange's trading floor would close.

In a statement, the company said that "the dangerous conditions developing as a result of Hurricane Sandy will make it extremely difficult to ensure the safety of our people and communities, and safety must be our first priority." Continue reading "All US exchanges shut down before Hurricane Sandy" →

Putin Is the New Global Shah of Oil

Posted on by The INO.com Team

By Marin Katusa, Casey Research

Exxon Mobil is no longer the world's number-one oil producer. As of yesterday, that title belongs to Putin Oil Corp – oh, whoops. I mean the title belongs to Rosneft, Russia's state-controlled oil company.

Rosneft is buying TNK-BP, which is a vertically integrated oil company co-owned by British oil firm BP and a group of Russian billionaires known as AAR. One of the top-ten privately owned oil producers in the world, in 2010 TNK-BP churned out 1.74 million barrels of oil equivalent per day from its assets in Russia and Ukraine and processed almost half that amount through its refineries.

With TNK-BP in its hands, Rosneft will be in charge of more than 4 million barrels of oil production a day. And who is in charge of Rosneft? None other than Vladimir Putin, Russia's resource-full president. Continue reading "Putin Is the New Global Shah of Oil" →

NYSE to trade electronically Monday, floor is shutdown

Posted on by The INO.com Team

(AP:NEW YORK) The New York Stock Exchange will close its trading floor Monday as Hurricane Sandy barrels its way up the Northeast, but Big Board trading will continue electronically.

NYSE Euronext said Sunday it is putting in place its contingency plans beginning Monday and will announce later when the trading floor will reopen.

The New York Mercantile Exchange, a commodity futures exchange, also will be shutting on Monday its trading floor which is located in a mandatory evacuation zone. The CME Group, which owns NYMEX, said all electronic markets will open at their regularly scheduled times.

The moves come as Hurricane Sandy causes the shutdown of transportation systems throughout the region. Governor Andrew Cuomo said New York City's subways and buses will shut down Sunday evening. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered residents to evacuate some low-lying areas Sunday and said city public schools will close Monday. Continue reading "NYSE to trade electronically Monday, floor is shutdown" →

Africa and Kurdistan Show Great Oil and Gas Potential: Lionel Therond

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The Energy Report: Let's start with Kurdistan, Lionel. It's one of the hottest countries in the world for oil and gas exploration, especially in terms of production share contracts. A few prescient firms, such as WesternZagros Resources Ltd. (WZR:TSX.V) and Genel Energy Plc (GENL:LSE) control promising properties in Kurdistan. What's the back story?

Lionel Therond: Prospects have never been better for players in Kurdistan. The key factor has been the recent entry of Turkey into the export debate. Allow me to explain: Turkey has an energy-hungry economy ready to buy oil and gas production directly from Kurdistan as long as the physical routes exist for exports. In response, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has started building pipelines toward Turkey, which should be operational at the end of 2013/early 2014.

"International majors are voting with their feet and entering Kurdistan."

That was a paradigm change. We had been waiting three years for an agreement between the KRG and the Iraqi federal government on the commercial conditions for exports, and Baghdad's initial stance was to declare all licenses in Kurdistan illegal. But with new export routes that could potentially bypass Iraqi territory and lead directly into Turkey, Baghdad's agreement is no longer necessary, which has brought the Iraqi government back to the negotiating table. Continue reading "Africa and Kurdistan Show Great Oil and Gas Potential: Lionel Therond" →