by Kyle McEwan The price of rice has fallen quite substantially from its high. However, the fundamental story for the crop is quite simple; a growing world population means more people to feed, causing a growing strain on supply.  That being said, rice is the primary food staple and source of starch for most of [...]

by Aaron Fennell Currently, the yield curve for U.S. interest rate vehicles is particularly steep right now, a unique situation which may lend itself to interesting trading opportunities. The yield curve represents the relationship between interest rate instruments of varying maturities, from very short-term to very long-term. Interest rates are extremely low for short-term interest [...]

Of course to the athletes, an Olympic medal is priceless. But just what is the value of an Olympic medal? If you are watching the games, you may have noticed the impressive size of this year’s medals, which  are heavier than medals of recent past Olympics. With gold prices near record highs, they are worth [...]

The Wall Street Journal reported  that short-selling proved quite popular among stock investors in the second half of January at the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market. “In the exchanges’ latest twice-a-month statistics, for the period ended Jan. 29, the number of short-selling positions at the NYSE not yet closed out, known [...]

By Jeff Friedman Pivot-trading has been around a long time, and is a favorite technical analysis tool for many professional traders. Learning how to use pivot points helps take the emotion out of trading, and gives you discipline. Pivots are useful in not only helping you to determine price direction, but also as a money [...]

by Dennis Cajigas Moving Average Convergence/Divergence, otherwise known as MACD, was created by Gerald Appel in the 1960s as a way to analyze market momentum and strength. While it fell out of favor in the early 1980s, it experienced a resurgence of popularity with the development of the MACD histogram by Thomas Aspey in 1986. [...]

by Phil Streible There are many different types of chart patterns market technicians focus on when making trading decisions, and many ways to interpret them. That is why technical analysis is truly an art. The key is to be able to recognize these patterns, and implement a trading strategy based on what you think the [...]

Bloomberg reports lead and copper prices in London have more than doubled this year, leading gains as of yesterday among 36 commodities in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Robusta-coffee futures posted the biggest decline. Commodity – Dec. 29 Price -  Year to Date Change Lead LME $2,449 a metric ton + 145% Copper LME $7,275 [...]

CNBC has tracked the best and worst-performing commodities of the decade. You might be surprised to learn gold wasn’t number one–or even number two.  The softs ruled! Read full article.