Monday, March 24, 2008

Watch for Impact of Falling Commodity Prices on Related Industries

According to Citigroup, the ongoing drop in commodity prices will have a strong impact on certain companies within sectors like "agriculture, mining machinery, energy equipment and alternative energy."

While investors will focus primarily on the prices of commodities like gold, silver and oil, those companies providing equipment and other energy sources could also suffer some heavy declines as well. Pressures will continue during this market correction.

Tobias Levkovich, chief U.S. equity strategist at Citigroup, said in a report that "A whole range of stocks seem to be at risk. The notion of unwinding 'crowded trades' could make the decline sharper than probably is justified."

Levkovich added, "The impressive economic development of Brazil, Russia, India and China has spawned a sense of never-ending growth that has stoked speculative juices."

Another long term impact on commodities could be if the Japanese and Europeans decide to sell their currencies in order to combat the weakness of the U.S. dollar, which on the positive side has increased American exports dramatically. It has hurt some of their domestic industries because of the strength of their currencies against the U.S. dollar.

Amex Gold Bugs Index

Last week the performance of the Amex Gold Bugs Index dropped by 15 percent, while the S&P 500 was able to gain a significant 3.3 percent, underscoring the changes occurring in the marketplace.

Amex Oil and Gas Index

The Amex Oil and Gas Index also reflected the current change in market conditions for commodities, as it declined by 4 percent last week.

Where oil, gold and wheat finished Monday

For Monday, oil futures dropped by 98 cents to finish at $100.86 a barrel, after reaching as high as $102.42. Gold also continues to fall, as it shaved off another $1.30 to finish at $918.70 an ounce. That was off from the day's high of $920. Wheat was able to manage a 3.3 percent gain, bringing $10.20 a bushel.

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