Commodities Begin their Breakout in April

Commodity Stocks To Watch
Company Symbol Industry Avg Vol Market Cap ($bil)
Newmont Mining (nyse: NEM - news - people ) Gold & Silver 4.5 million $18.64
Barrick Gold (nyse: ABX - news - people ) Gold & Silver 1.7 million 12.67
Anglogold Ashanti (nyse: AU - news - people ) Gold & Silver 699,409 9.21
Placer Dome (nyse: PDG - news - people ) Gold & Silver 2.2 million 6.76
Gold Fields (nyse: GFI - news - people ) Gold & Silver 1.01 million 5.55B

Crude Oil Refining Stocks To Watch
COP - CONOCO/PHILLIPS (NYSE) Chart Profile Opinion News
CVX - CHEVRONTEXACO CORPORATION (NYSE) Chart Profile Opinion News
FTO - FRONTIER OIL CORPORATION NYSE) Chart Profile Opinion News
TSO - TESORO CORPORATION (NYSE) Chart Profile Opinion News
VLO - VALERO ENERGY CORPORATION (NYSE) Chart Profile Opinion News
XOM - EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION (NYSE) Chart Profile Opinion News

Money & Investing

Leaning Too Heavily On Commodities
Oxford Analytica, 04.06.05, 6:00 AM ET Forbes Magazine

Increasing quantities of speculative capital have come into raw materials markets during the first quarter of 2005, driving commodity prices to new highs. Funds' total exposure to the main commodity futures markets is at its highest since April 2004.

The influx of capital represents a range of short- to long-term strategies on the part of funds based on the outlook for raw materials and the desire to pursue portfolio diversification, as equities and bonds returns decrease. The Comex copper futures are seeing an influx of speculative money. In mid-March, funds upped their total positions to a record 84,174 contracts. Average positions are well below previous peaks, but the number of funds entering the market has risen substantially.

Noncommercial traders running reportable positions of any kind hit 160 in March, beating the previous high of 147 last October--the long-term average is 64. In addition, the interest in calendar spreads has increased massively, hitting new highs week-on-week to reach over 18,000 contracts, with funds' share of open interest in the contract over 50%.

The Nymex crude contract is seeing a similar influx of speculative money. The total number of noncommercial traders with reportable positions of all types hit a record 249 last month, three times the long-term average. Open interest in the crude contract hit an all time high of 841,984 contracts, 34% of which is attributed to funds, compared with an average of about 29% over the last ten years.

Nymex's natural gas contract is equally affected. Investors' share of total open interest is more than double the average over the last five years, and calendar spread positions are at record levels.

Read the Full in-depth Commodities Article at Forbes Magazine