Thats relative to personal opinion...i dont make buy sell recommendations for free...

but i did call what i saw as a good buyin point a couple of days ago

key words here are "preferred stock"

not free trading common stock

Contract Specifications: for december soybean oil

Symbol - ZL
Name - Soybean Oil (E)
Exchange - CBOT
Trading Months - F,H,K,N,Q,U,V,Z
Trading Unit - 60,000 lbs
Tick Size - 0.0001 cent per lb. ($6 per contract)
Daily Limit - 25 cent per lb. ($1,500 per contract)
Trading Hours - 6:00p.m. - 6:00a.m. and 9:30a.m. - 1:15p.m. CST
Last Trading Day - The business day prior to the 15th calendar day of the contract month
Value of one futures unit - $600
Value of one options unit - $600



its $6.535 a pound for decembers contract as of the close today

the contract value at that price is $ 392,100.00

margin for that contract is between 5-10% of that on average

im talking futures...

im looking at other markets here...

natty gas and bonds so far...

crude was down huge...but gas and deisel were up alot...

interesting how they can be so out of line isnt it...lol

you sure about that ...?

werent you banging the "it's dead drum " a few months ago....?

lol

theres no figuring it out its not a matter of figuring it out its a matter of getting the facts and not speculating with seat of your pants information like most do..

the supply is limited by refining ability which increases demand..

the fact crude and its biproducts are being traded in a currency that loses value daily doesnt help either..

as for the guy in china flushing a toilet, he probably just ate a chili dog that he bought while out driving his first car ...

more pressure on the demand side...

not the government, the president of the cftc ,the regulating body that governs the futures market ..who is underfire by congress to explain how speculators control the market...

speculators dont control the market they help facilitate it..if it werent for speculators hedgers couldnt hedge ..

and since there are 2 sides to every transaction someone is also betting prices will fall...

so its not possible to surmise speculators and funds are doing anything other than chasing the market up rather than pushing it up

5 weeks in a row where crude and gas are down 1.2m barrels affects supplies which is what affects pricing...

its no different than if you were to pay 10k$ for a playstation at christmas because the supply cant meet demand...

lmaorotf

its not supplies that are the problem its refining ability...

if you cant refine enough to meet demand it doesnt matter how much supply you have on tankers waiting to offload...

not even close to the same thing...

lol...

from another standpoint the more oil you pull out of a well the less pressure it has to push itself out which requires more cost in removal...hence the term "peak oil" which doesnt nessissarily mean we are out of oil but that it has reached a point where it cant push itself out of the hole any longer...

also todays peak in pricing isnt exactly supply related as much as its refinery ability...

ask a environmentalist why they bitch about oil prices but wont allow a refinery to be built...

lol... ;)

now that is a way to affect supplies if a large mining company goes under there would be limitations on supplies

you are right on the money about inflation i have heard numbers in the 12 % range while the fed would suggest its around 2%....

heres an article touching on the subject
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_hassett&sid=a30AR6y1nc4o#

p.s. there is absolutely no comparison between futures and stocks...

futures are REAL ,HARD ASSETTS

stocks are worthless paper at best..

not in the instance that was referred ...yes they can put price ceilings and floors as well as a few other things like diluting the dollar like a pink sheet shell but not in the stance of shorting it...

what do you mean cover...?

you cant naked short a futures contract,there is a buyer for every seller.

if you short a given commodity with a futures contract you either gain or lose value , if it loses value beyond 25% of your initial margin you get called for a margin call which you can either meet or you can liquidate the position.

these contracts are also time valued for certain expiration months..

this is a subject that many dont comprehend, the only way to manipulate a commodity is to affect its supplies either positively or negatively.....

take for instance nigerian oil workers on strike limiting the supply of crude produced from that region would affect pricing, or a glut of sugar or cotton causing the opposite effect...or since we are referring to gold a large mine that collapses and cant produce ect.ect.ect.

again this is not possible the fed cant manipulate a market unless they ARE taking delivery and keeping it off the market, hence resticting available supplies....increasing demand

the president of the cftc has stated on record anyone under that belief doesnt understand the commodities market or how it works...

you can look up articles relating to oil speculators for more info

you might look at recent articles where they have completely blunted that theory and how it is impossible

most recently congress has suggested such retoric which is impossible...

p.s. on average only 3 % of all contracts traded end in delivery

you cant manipulate a commodity like that ....!

there is a buyer for every seller for both futures contracts and options contracts so there are an equal number of positions both long and short...

it wouldnt matter if they were buying there entire funds short there will always be someone on the other side of the trade...

price discovery is led by the market not the traders

indeed but like most things everything comes full circle and so goes the cycle again

remember when everyone said bellbottoms were history...?

http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/01/markets/thebuzz/index.htm

inflation is killing gold and silver while pushing oil through the roof...

http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/01/markets/thebuzz/index.htm

gold and silver are negatively affected buy inflation...




DISCLAIMER: I AM A SERIES 3 LICENSED BROKER

not exactly...

most financial institutions today are walking on thin ice and the bigger the bank the thinner the ice...

look at lehman bros , citibank and ubs .... all weak kneed in todays economy


DISCLAIMER: I AM A SERIES 3 LICENSED BROKER

its not niave in the least.. a stronger dollar would cause energy and other staples to come down and the higher rates go the faster the prices would fall...

raising rates gives strength to the greenback and since almost all commodities are traded in dollars the prices would adjust accordingly...

all in my researched opinion.....


DISCLAIMER: I AM A SERIES 3 LICENSED BROKER

i wish it were that easy but i am betting it wont take long to see it start ...

they lower rates by 3.25% since september a 2% incremental increase is in order imo(at the very least)

not so.....

in the late 70's and early 80's rates were adjusted more than 50 times..going as high as 21.50% at one time

and that was during a very similar market environment..

very few people can qualify for credit right now anyway especially with credit card companies lowering available credit even for some who have 800+ credit scores raising rates WOULD however give world banks a reason to buy and hold the greenback and basic supply and demand suggests that will add value which would lower energy costs as well as basic staples...

look back to the 70-80's when we were in a energy and housing crisis of similar proportion...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_funds_rate


DISCLAIMER: I AM A SERIES 3 LICENSED BROKER

if the fed decides to act and actually DO something to strengthen the dollar,like raising interest rates, oil will fall...

aside from that expect big pains at the pump....

imo of course....


DISCLAIMER: I AM A SERIES 3 LICENSED BROKER

i dont think he's ever made that public...

i second that motion...

"And is it not true that a firm having at least one MM for making market for their shares would require the MM to buy at least some great amount of their shares? An agreement with the firm?"

not nessissarily they only need the initial shares to distribute into the market from my understanding..

that mm can also be there for the company should they decide to further dilute the share structure of a given company.

;) good luck in your trading...:)

"The one of the things I know that every MM are required to keep inventory"

that is incorrect...

not exactly how an electronic market works....

now your broker does have to have enough shares to cover your trade as well as others that purchase any given stock but that can be done with your shares purchased...

in a non electronic market maker market some of what you posted would apply but a sponsoring market maker only introduces a company and doesnt nessissarily keep a stock pile of those shares...

just for my curiosities sake what makes you think an electronic market accumulates shares....?

this isnt options trading where there is a buyer for every seller....

it is completely possible we see gold come down to 800.00 an oz. near term depending on what the fed does with the dollar to combat inflation..

i do like it as a long term hold but not looking to trade it in the near term..

sorry for the delay in responding...

crude futures contracts profit or lose 10.00 per pennie in movement...

if it were to go up 2.00 you would multiply 200 times 10.00 and that would be the profit for that position...

unleaded gas or RBOB is at a rate of 420.00 per pennie movement

now the contract itself could cost you as much or more than 11,000.00 to get into..

only 3% of contracts end in delivery and chances are though if you are trading futures you wouldnt hold it for an extended period of time, to be less accessible to a margin call