Commodities

ETF Securities, one of the world’s leading, independent providers of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), believes commodity markets may be close to their most attractive ever after continued levels of bearishness.

Based on their data, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the organization responsible for identifying global weather patterns, is predicting a greater than 90% chance that El Niño will continue through the northern hemisphere winter in 2015-2016 and gradually weaken through spring 2016.

Brazil is in recession territory. The country’s fiscal consolidation plan had a major set-back in July as the finance minister Joaquim Levy announced a significant downward revision of the government’s primary fiscal surplus targets. In august, S&P placed Brazil’s foreign currency rating, on negative outlook.

The Ecuadorian government’s announcement of cuts to the 2015 budget and new Chinese loans signals how the authorities are responding to the fiscal and financing challenges of lower oil prices, Fitch Ratings says.

The sharp fall in oil prices during the second half of 2014 turned out to be one of the most significant themes of the year. In this piece, Salman Ahmed, Strategist Fixed Income at Lombard Odier IM discusses the economic transmission mechanism and asset market implications of the sharp reduction in oil prices.