| CME bid spurs fears of merger monster
THE commodities boom is intensifying the merger mania among the world's financial exchanges. But the $US11 billion ($12.4 billion) bid by CME Group to acquire Nymex Holdings may fuel worries that consolidation is leaving the survivors with too much power. A purchase of the 135-year-old New York Mercantile Exchange's owner by CME, parent of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, would create the largest exchange in the world, with a stock market value of about $US45 billion. And acquiring Nymex's crude oil futures, one of the largest commodity contracts in the world, would fill the last major hole in the 110-year-old Chicago exchange's product line-up, while squeezing remaining rivals in the energy market. The deal also highlights some unsettling consequences of the global scramble for alliances and market share in trading financial securities.
Glencore – the power behind the Xstrata throne
As global mining firms circle London-listed Xstrata, behind the headlines is one of the most powerful commodities companies in the world and two men seen among the sharpest in the business. Holder of a strategic 34.6 percent stake in Xstrata is privately-owned trading firm Glencore International, which from the Swiss lakeside town of Zug controls a multibillion-dollar pipeline of oil, coal and crops as well as metals, and has almost $15 billion in shareholder funds in its coffers. Glencore began life in 1974 as a commodity trading firm set up by secretive billionaire commodities merchant Marc Rich, who sold out to management in 1994. The men who run Glencore now, Chairman Willy Strothotte and Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg, may not be as famous but they have arguably been as successful.
Traders Bracing For Slump Drive Up Platinum, Wheat, Coffee And Cocoa
Platinum and spring wheat hit record highs Thursday and arabica coffee and cocoa set new trading peaks as well, as investors in commodities pursued markets deemed less vulnerable to the slowing U.S. economy. Copper, an economically sensitive base metal, overcame jitters over U.S. growth by reacting to Wednesday's cut in interest rates. Traders said copper was also inspired by Thursday's rebound in Wall Street stocks and lingering production issues in China. But broad commodity futures indexes closed mixed, with the Reuters-Jefferies CRB and Dow Jones-AIG up and the S&P GSCI down. U.S. crude oil also fell, closing 58 cents lower at $91.75 a barrel on fears of slowing growth in the world's largest economy and the leading energy-consuming nation. Investors in energy were also sidelined ahead of an OPEC meeting on production quotas set for Friday.
Councilman MikeK Recalls Knievel Action Figure
It is hard to see any other alternatives now that U.S. Magistrate Mikel Williams has found Beck, of Boise, and his 71 fellow plaintiffs lack standing to challenge the state's primary election law in court. Only the party can do that, Williams ruled/Jim Fisher, Lewiston Tribune. Full editorial here. Question: If disgruntled Republicans succeed in closing Idaho's primaries, will you be more/less likely to vote Republican?
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Honest Money Gold and Silver Report: Market Wrap
Gold had a tough week getting hit hard for a loss of $35.60, closing the week out at $789.10 (-4.32%). The chart below shows gold testing its bottom trend line; which it is sitting directly on top of. Next is a point and figure chart of gold. Overall, it remains quite bullish, with a projected target of $960.00. However, it also shows a high pole warning on November 28th. A high pole warning is signaled when a previous high is broken above by at least 3 boxes, but then reverses and gives back at least half of the rise. The chart below suggests that lower prices may be coming. Next week will be important for gold, as it is sitting right on support, which if broken below will become resistance. The warning is indicating that as the price of gold rose, sellers sold into the rise more than buyers were willing to buy, thus creating the reversal.
Mel Brooks' 'Young Frankenstein' is ready for its Broadway bow
Just because the musical aims for laughter does not mean the emotions aren't genuine underneath, notes Bart. "It's about a misunderstood father and a son seething with adolescent angst," says Bart, the father of two daughters. "On a certain level it's pretty serious. You can't treat that cheaply." "Sure, we're being funny -- I hope -- but that's because there is sincere emotional investment to what we do," remarks Hensley. "It's not only just about us getting the laughs. The characters really care about each other." "This isn't a buddy-buddy show like 'The Producers'," says Bart, who hissed around as Carmen Ghia in the original company of Mel Brooks' movie-into-musical smash before graduating to the leading role of Leo Bloom. "After all, our story here is about resurrection and somebody playing God," observes Bart, tongue not entirely wedged in his cheek.
Pakistan's courts locked down; Bhutto in Islamabad
Three days after Musharraf suspended the constitution and declared a state of emergency, Pakistan's judicial system is in lockdown, with thousands of lawyers jailed and many judges detained in their homes. Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto arrived in Islamabad from Karachi on Tuesday for meetings with other opposition leaders about how to respond to Musharraf's declaration. "I don't think we have time, and I don't think we should give time," she told reporters. "I think we should all come down as strongly as we can for the restoration of democracy." In a telephone call, former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry -- fired by Musharraf on Saturday -- urged a gathering of lawyers to go to "every corner of Pakistan and give the message that this is the time to sacrifice." Watch police club and kick lawyers » Asked if he had a message for Musharraf, he told CNN International, "He should restore the judiciary, which was working independently in this country for the strengthening of the institution of democracy." Musharraf's declaration noted a "visible ascendancy in the activities of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks" and it blamed a judiciary that was "at cross purposes" with his government's efforts "to control this menace." Opposition leaders, however, suggested the judicial activism Musharraf was really targeting was an expected Supreme Court ruling that would bar him from another term as Pakistan's president.
Hope for the riot victims of Gujarat
Otherwise, no matter how many times President Bush travels to the region, there is no reason to believe that 2008 will offer anything other than the macabre pattern of years past. Hussein Agha, a senior associate member of St. Antony's College, Oxford University, has been involved in Israeli-Palestinian affairs for four decades. Robert Malley is Middle East program director at the International Crisis Group and was special assistant to the president for Arab-Israeli affairs from 1998 to 2001. By arrangement with LA Times-Washington Post .
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