Oil Rises Above $78, Nearing Record as U.S. Refiners May Boost Operations

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose above $78 a barrel in
New York, nearing a record, on speculation demand will outpace
supply as refiners increase fuel production.

Bets on rising prices by hedge funds and other speculators
rose to a record earlier this month, according to U.S. Commodity
Futures Trading Commission data. Global demand will climb 1.7
percent in 2008, showing no sign of slowing because of high
prices, a Deutsche Bank AG report showed. A government report
tomorrow may show U.S. oil supplies fell for a fourth week.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

US RATE FUTURES-Boost gains on GDP, inflation data

(Reuters) - Futures show an 82 percent chance the Fed will ease by
year-end , up from 76 percent overnight. Before
Thursday's rally prospects for a Fed cut this year were below
50 percent.




U.S. second-quarter real GDP growth was reported at 3.4
percent against the consensus Wall Street forecast of 3.2
percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

CFTC sues Amaranth for natgas price manipulation

(Reuters) - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission also said Amaranth tried to cover up activities by lying to the New York Mercantile Exchange . The agency is seeking monetary penalties, but not jail time, for the wrongdoing.




Amaranth racked up $6.4 billion in losses from bad natural gas contracts before it folded last year, after moving most of its contract positions from the regulated NYMEX to Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange where the CFTC has policing powers but no authority to regulate.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Sugar Futures Decline on Speculation Indian Exports to Add to Global Glut

(Bloomberg) -- Sugar fell in New York on speculation
that India, the second-largest producer, may offer to sell
unrefined supplies of the sweetener, adding to a global surplus.

Investors and traders expect India to issue a tender on
July 23 for up to 265,000 metric tons of raw sugar, according to
a report yesterday by BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Inc. in New
York. Until recently, India only exported white, refined sugar. A
record crop in India may lead the country to double total
exports, a minister said last week.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Orica Shares Climb on Speculation of Offer After Earlier Buyout Rejected

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Orica Ltd. rose 5.5
percent on speculation the world's largest explosives maker may
receive a second takeover offer after the company rejected a
A$9.95 billion ($8.7 billion) buyout in April.

There's talk of a bid of A$37 a share, said Albert Landman,
who manages more than $70 million at Tricom Futures Services in
Melbourne. Orica had ``no comment,'' said spokesman John Fetter.
Stuart Barton, a spokesman for UBS AG, which advised Orica when
it rejected the earlier offer, also declined to comment.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Brent Crude Oil Rises Above $78 a Barrel, Reaching 11-Month High in London

(Bloomberg) -- Brent crude-oil futures traded above
$78 a barrel in London for the first time since Aug. 9 as
maintenance shutdowns limited North Sea supplies and violence in
Nigeria curbed its oil exports.

The August Brent contract rose as high as $78.02 a barrel and
was trading at $78 a barrel, up 43 cents, at 8:38 a.m. on London's
ICE Futures exchange. Brent has averaged $64.56 so far this year
for contracts closest to delivery, after averaging $66.11 last
year, $55.25 in 2005 and $38.04 in 2004.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

TREASURIES-Bonds edge up as subprime concerns resurface

(Reuters) - Investors waited to see if U.S. equities would extend the
previous session's solid gains or whether the subprime worries
would dominate financial markets sentiment and push U.S.
government bond yields down further in a flight to safety bid.




Futures were signaling a slightly higher start for stocks on
Wall Street, curbing Treasuries gains.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Dollar Falls to Record Against Euro on Housing Slowdown, Subprime Concern

(Bloomberg) -- The dollar fell to a record against
the euro and declined versus the yen on speculation a slumping
housing market will slow the U.S. economy more than expected.

The U.S. currency also weakened against the Swiss franc,
British pound and Danish krone after Standard & Poor's warned it
may cut ratings on $12 billion of bonds backed by subprime
mortgages, diminishing the appeal of dollar-denominated assets.
Futures show traders expect the Federal Reserve to keep
borrowing rates steady through the end of the year.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Tokyo's Mom and Pop Investors Sell More Yen Than Chicago Futures Traders

(Bloomberg) -- Yen sales by Japanese mom-and-pop
investors this week exceeded professional traders' bets against
the currency on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Japanese margin traders' net yen short positions, wagers it
will decline against the dollar, reached $1.1 billion on July 4,
according to data from the Tokyo International Financial Futures
Exchange. The Bank of Japan assessed the TIFFE has a share of 5.8
percent of overall foreign-exchange margin transactions as of
December 2006, making total net short yen positions for all
Japanese retail speculators about $19.15 billion.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Shanghai copper up 2.4 pct, LME in sight of $8,000

(Reuters) - Shanghai copper rallied more than 2 percent on Tuesday following a 2 percent surge in London futures to a seven-week high as the dollar fell and threats to supply focused attention on limited metal stocks.

The most-active September copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 2.4 percent or 1,540 yuan to 65,810 yuan a tonne at 0212 GMT.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Rubber Falls in Tokyo on Concern Demand May Lag Behind Supply This Half

(Bloomberg) -- Rubber futures in Tokyo, the global
benchmark, fell for a sixth day on concern that demand from end-
users may be less than expected in the second half after
disappointing purchases so far this year.

Rubber consumers, mainly tire manufacturers, covered much of
their first-half requirements when prices were falling late last
year, said Tetsu Emori, chief strategist at Astmax Futures in
Tokyo. Rubber futures, which reached a 27-year high in June last
year, fell 19 percent in the second half.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

U.S. Utilities, Natural-Gas Users Call for More Energy Market Oversight

(Bloomberg) -- Representatives of the U.S. utility
industry and natural-gas users told a Senate panel that they
support expanding regulatory oversight of energy markets to
cover over-the-counter trades and electronic exchanges.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ``needs to
see the entire market,'' Arthur Corbin, chief executive officer
of the Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia, told members of
Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Corbin's group
is a collection of 76 publicly-owned gas distributors.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Equity plunge drags Shanghai copper down 1.9 pct

(Reuters) - Shanghai copper shed nearly 2 percent on Monday and dragged London futures lower after China's main equity market tumbled over 4 percent on concerns that the government would do more to curb growth.

The most-active September copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was down 1,210 yuan, or 1.9 percent, at 63,050 yuan at the close.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Traders Place Record Bets on Canadian Dollar Gains, CFTC Statistics Show

(Bloomberg) -- Futures traders held a record number
of bets that the Canadian dollar will gain against the U.S.
dollar, figures from the Washington-based Commodity Futures
Trading Commission show.

The difference in the number of wagers by hedge funds and
other large speculators on an advance in the Canadian dollar
compared with those on a drop -- so-called net longs -- rose to
62,005 as of June 12, compared with 43,858 a week earlier. It
was the biggest amount of net longs since Bloomberg began
compiling the weekly data in 1993.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Cotton Rises on Speculation U.S. Crop Will Be Smaller Than USDA Forecast

(Bloomberg) -- Cotton rose in New York as dry
weather in the southern U.S. threatens newly planted fields and
farmers reduce plantings in favor of more profitable crops.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which last month
forecast a cotton crop of 18.8 million bales, may cut its
estimate to 18.5 million next week, said Ron Lawson, chief
executive officer of Sonoma, California-based Steadfast Futures
& Options Inc. The crop may be as small as 17 million bales by
the time the harvest starts in September, he said.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Copper Slumps to Seven-Week Low on Speculation Chinese Stockpiles May Gain

(Bloomberg) -- Copper futures in New York tumbled
more than 3 percent to a seven-week low on concern that metal
inventories in China, the biggest consumer, will climb,
signaling excess supplies.

Stockpiles monitored the Shanghai Futures Exchange have
more than tripled in 2007 to the highest in three years. The
exchange will release its weekly inventory report tomorrow.
Copper has fallen 10 percent this month on concern that growing
supplies in China will lead to a widening surplus of the metal
used in wires and pipes.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Web Sites Ordered to Pay $3.6 Million for Energy-Trading Scam, CFTC Says

(Bloomberg) -- A U.S. federal court ordered two Web
sites to pay $3.65 million for bilking investors by posing as an
energy-trading exchange and a broker, the U.S. Commodity Futures
Trading Commission said.

The sites, which used the names York Commodities and the
American Energy Exchange, were ordered by a U.S. District Court
in Manhattan to reimburse investors almost $3.3 million and pay
$390,000 in fines, the Washington-based CFTC said today.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

European Government Debt Declines Before German Investor Confidence Report

(Bloomberg) -- European government bonds fell, sending
two-year yields to near the highest in almost five years, on
expectations the pace of economic growth will give the European
Central Bank scope to keep raising interest rates this year.

A report tomorrow will probably show German investor
confidence rose to an 11-month high in May. European debt fell by
the most last week in five after reports showed European economies
grew faster than forecast in the first quarter, and euro-region
inflation quickened. Futures prices show investors raising bets
the ECB will lift rates at least twice more this year.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News