War Impact:  Everyone knows that the fighting hit supplies and spiked commodities prices.  Pre-COVID Russia produced 11.4 million barrels per day (mbpd), which fell to 9.3 mbpd in mid-2020 and had been recovering ever since.  Russia’s production of oil and gas condensate in early April fell to 10.5 mbpd during…

COVID-19   US Case Count Fell to 4% of the High as the seven-day average fell in half during March to 30k per Reuters with US deaths per day falling to 900 on March 31st.  Germany, by comparison was at 77% of their peak, though declining.  Their daily death rate…

During the month of March, the top 3 performing sectors were: energies (+13.61%), indices (+3.51%), and grains (+3.09%). The bottom 3 sectors were: interest rates (-2.45%), livestock (-1.22%) and metals (-0.41%). March 2022 started with a strong jobs report with the FOMC set to meet later in the month. Most,…

Ukraine At The Center: The Russian invasion of Ukraine dominated the commodities markets as can be deduced from these two graphics.  The first demonstrates Europe’s acquired dependency on Russia for energy – almost equal to what Europe produces directly.  While the EU laid out grand plans in early March to…