CT=F - Cotton Jul 20
| Pre. Settlement | N/A |
| Settlement Date | 2020-07-09 |
| Open | 57.50 |
| Bid | 57.18 |
| Last Price | 57.59 |
| Day's Range | 56.56 - 57.73 |
| Volume | 16,745 |
| Ask | 57.26 |
- Quartz
Everyone’s advocating cotton masks. But how do you really take care of them?
As masks become a reality of the post-Covid-19 world, cotton masks are fast gaining provenance. India’s top ministers and public officials, including prime minister Narendra Modi, have been seen sporting different variants of these masks. “I think people need to understand that cotton masks are more about preventing oneself from spreading coronavirus than about catching it,” explains Ayushi Gudwani, founder of Fable Street, a women’s workwear brand that is now also making cotton masks.
- U.S.News & World Report
What to Know About Investing In Commodities
Investors seeking markets uncorrelated to the stock market may look to commodities. Commodities are the raw materials that are either consumed or used to build other products. From orange juice to cotton, oil and gas to gold, commodities take many forms.
- Quartz
US senators want to halt immigration, just when the economy needs it most
Senators Cotton, Cruz, Grassley, and Hawley want to suspend four major visa categories for 60 days, including H1-B and OPT for international students.
- Quartz
One US town weathered floods, a tornado, and its first Covid-19 death on the same day
Easter weekend was rough for Kevin Smith. As the mayor of Helena, Arkansas, Smith registered the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic in early March, during a business trip to Washington, DC. On the flight home, he was disturbed by the number of people wearing masks, and decided he would do what he could to flatten the curve in his cotton-farming town of 12,000 on the Mississippi River, two hours east of Little Rock.
AFPI.Coast sees $500 mln export loss for cashew and cotton
Ivory Coast's cashew and cotton industries will lose export sales worth nearly half a billion dollars this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, their association said on Monday. The head of the Cotton-Cashew Council (CCA), Adama Coulibaly, told AFP that Asian prices for cashews had plummeted from $1,400 to $900 per tonne, representing an overall fall in export income of more than $300 million. Asian prices for Ivorian cotton have fallen from 1,007 CFA francs ($1.66) a kilogram to 600 CFA francs, a loss of $172 million.
- Quartz
US fashion brands having to make medical masks expose a failure of the health system
Across the US, clothing companies and legions of home sewers are churning out face masks as fast as they can to meet the critical shortage of masks available to American medical workers. It’s a heartening and admirable effort by both companies and individuals to assist in a moment of national need. There’s just one problem: Many of these masks are apparently being made from regular cloth textiles such as cotton, which research says offers little protection against infectious diseases such as the new coronavirus.
- Reuters
Brazil dock workers mull strike at key port due to coronavirus
A union representing about 5,000 autonomous dock workers on Friday called on its members to vote on Monday on whether to hold a strike at Latin America's largest port over concerns about coronavirus risk. Rodnei Oliveira da Silva, president of the dock workers union at Brazil's Santos port, said in a video message posted on social media that the vote will be held in front of the union's headquarters on Monday. The port is Brazil's biggest for exports of coffee, sugar, soybeans, corn and cotton.
AFPDrought slashes Australian crop output to record low
Australia's hottest and driest year on record has slashed crop production, with summer output expected to fall to the lowest levels on record, according to official projections released Tuesday. The country's agriculture department said it expects production of crops like sorghum, cotton and rice to fall 66 percent -- the lowest levels since records began in 1980-81. "It is the lowest summer crop production in this period by a large margin," Peter Collins, a senior economist with the department's statistical body ABARES told AFP.
- Rigzone.com
RockRose to Buy North Sea Cotton Gas Field
RockRose has signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the equity of Speedwell Energy (1) Limited, which holds a 100 percent interest in the Cotton gas field in the UK sector of the Southern North Sea.
- Reuters
Singapore's Olam divides businesses into two units, eyes listings
The decision follows a business review last year, and a multi-year plan announced early in 2019 to invest $3.5 billion into key growth areas, such as edible nuts, coffee and cocoa, while shedding other sectors. One unit, Olam Food Ingredients (OFI), will consist of its cocoa, coffee, edible nuts, spices and dairy businesses, the Singapore-based company said in a statement. The other, Olam Global Agri (OGA), will include grains and animal feed, edible oils, rice, cotton and commodity financial services, it said.
- InvestorPlace
This Trade Could Be the One Play to Make in 2020
The "Dodo Trade" is on … and it could be the most important influence on the global financial markets in 2020.If you get on the right side of this trade, the next 12 months could be very lucrative, even if the U.S. stock market goes nowhere. But if you wind up on the wrong side, you might end the year feeling like … well … a dodo.What's the Dodo Trade? The chart below provides a clue:InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsSource: InvestorPlace "Dodo" stands for "dollar down," which is exactly what has been happening during the last three months. Although this downtrend is just getting underway, I expect it to gain momentum throughout 2020 and help power major rallies in precious metals and most other commodity markets. Death of the Dollar? Not Yet.To be clear, I am not predicting any sort of doomsday scenario that causes a major dollar implosion. Instead, I'm simply expecting the greenback to trend downward throughout the year and move toward the lows it hit in early 2018. * 9 Up-and-Coming Small-Cap Stocks to Watch The main rationale for this forecast is a simple one: No one really wants a strong dollar. It has become friendless -- both in the United States and overseas.Here at home, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says he plans to hold interest rates low throughout 2020.As recently as one year ago, the members of Powell's Federal Open Market Committee were planning to raise rates above 3% in 2020. But the revised plan calls for holding rates at 1.75%. Clearly, the Fed is now pursuing an "easier" monetary policy than most investors had been expecting during the last several months.All else being equal, low interest rates promote dollar weakness … and commodity rallies.As it happens, President Donald Trump's administration also favors a weak dollar because that makes our exports more competitive.In addition to these monetary and political pressures on the dollar, a third factor is also weighing it down: Strengthening commodity prices. Most broad commodity price indexes have jumped double digits since August 2019. Generally speaking, rising commodity prices coincide with periods of dollar weakness, as the chart below shows.Source: InvestorPlace The inverse relationship between the dollar and commodities is easy to see. Whenever the dollar zigs lower, commodity prices tend to zag higher.During these episodes of simultaneous dollar weakness and commodity strength, you never really know which comes first: the weak-dollar "chicken" or the commodity-strength "egg." But whatever the exact cause or causes, the inverse relationship between these two assets is indisputable.In the current cycle, commodity strength seems like the most dominant influence. Investors aren't panicking to dump the dollar; they are simply tiptoeing away from it. But in the commodity markets, investors are buying with vigor and urgency.During the last four months, for example, the prices of numerous commodities have jumped 15% to 35% -- including gasoline, cotton, coffee, soybean oil, sugar and live hogs. The metals markets are also showing signs of strength, as copper, aluminum, gold and platinum are all trading near three-month highs.Perhaps these fresh signs of vitality in the commodity markets are a fluke, signifying nothing. But I wouldn't take that bet. Because the commodity market upswing aligns so closely with the U.S. dollar downswing, it is displaying classic signs of a major rally in the making.Furthermore, if we crawl around in the weeds of specific commodity markets, we can find solid reasons to expect higher prices. Generally speaking, supplies are constrained relative to demand. Welcome to BackwardationEven in the crude oil market, for example, we can find evidence of tight supplies. Although most folks believe the world to be "awash in oil," the futures markets are telling a different story. The crude market is in "backwardation," as are the markets for heating oil and natural gas.Backwardation means simply that near-month futures contracts are more expensive than ones in distant months. The typical pricing in crude futures is called "contango." That's when the closest-dated future is the cheapest and the most distant future is the most expensive. But when contango pricing flip-flops, or goes backward, the market is in backwardation. In the current case, the spot price of crude oil is $61.61 a barrel, while the contract for delivery one year from now is only $56.97.Source: InvestorPlace This somewhat rare configuration indicates that crude oil traders want their oil right now, not months from now. Not surprisingly, whenever traders want something right now, the price of that "something" tends to move higher. The crude market moved into backwardation decisively last August, which is also when the price of crude began trending higher.Interestingly, the energy markets are not the only ones in backwardation. So are the futures markets for thermal coal, palladium, zinc, and aluminum.These bullish signals from the futures markets are echoing signals from the stock market. Specifically, natural resources stocks are kicking into gear once again. Strength in ResourcesThe SPDR S&P Metals and Mining ETF (NYSEARCA:XME) has advanced 20% since August, while several individual stocks in that exchange-traded fund have jumped twice as much. These moves are just the beginning of much larger gains to come.Now that this bull market has taken fight, there's plenty of blue sky above it.Most major mining and resources stocks are still trading 70% below the highs they reached in 2011. In other words, even if these stocks tripled from their current levels, they would not reach their all-time highs! Further, from a valuation standpoint, resource stocks have never been cheaper than they are today.Source: InvestorPlace As the chart above shows, the valuation of the S&P Metals and Mining Index is nearly 70% lower than the valuation of the S&P 500. In raw numbers, the Metals and Mining Index is trading for less than four times gross earnings (EBITDA), while the S&P 500 is trading for more than 11 times EBITDA. Bottom LineThe commodity sector is a coiled spring that could produce shockingly strong results in 2020. The resource-related stocks I've recommended to my subscribers have achieved powerful market-beating results during the last few months. For example… * In June, I told my paid-up members that even if precious metals drift sideways for years, one large gold streaming and royalty company was positioned to make big gains. It's gone on to climb 21.3%. * At the same time, I recommended another gold and silver streamer and royalty company. I told them this company is a solid up-and-comer with the potential to quickly double or better. It hasn't done that -- yet -- but it has soared 82%. * Since recommending one mid-tier gold and silver miner, its shares have soared 40.5% in just a few months. Further, those shares just hit their highest levels since 2016 on New Year's Eve. * Finally, just over a year ago, I recommended a play on three of the world's largest and newest mining projects. It's gone on to soar 59.3%.But I'm expecting even larger gains over the next few months.And next week I'll show you the "Dodo Trade" stock that I think will make more gains than any other in 2020.Regards,Eric FryP.S. On the Friday morning following the U.S. airstrikes in Iraq, stock prices plummeted 300 points, while oil and gold prices surged. This is a turning point. The markets - and your money - will feel the impact. No matter what happens, every prudent person should be prepared for the worst.That's why I recently put together this presentation and wrote the book on market crash preparation: Bear Market 2020: The Survival Blueprint. I was one of the few analysts who predicted the last market crash in 2007-'08\. And now you can read all about the critical steps I'm saying every American should be taking by clicking here and viewing this presentation. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 10 Cheap Stocks to Buy Under $10 * 5 Retail Stocks Placer.ai Thinks Can Win Big in 2020 * 6 Cheap Stocks to Buy Under $7 The post This Trade Could Be the One Play to Make in 2020 appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- FX Empire
Weekly Forecast: Cutton, Sugar, Rice and Orange Juice Futures
Cotton is traded in it’s lowest point in the last 5 weeks, what about Rice and Orange juice futures?
- Quartz
Clothing made by Chinese forced labor is likely being sold in the US
As much as 84% of Chinese cotton comes from the Xinjiang region, where it's processed by forced labor from Muslim minority groups before entering the global supply chain.
- Reuters
Indians pawning the family gold amid credit crunch
AURANGABAD/MUMBAI, India (Reuters) - Refused a loan by a state-run lender and desperate for funds to buy cotton seeds before the summer sowing season window closed, Indian farmer Babasaheb Mandlik ran out of choices - he pawned his wife's gold jewellery. Mandlik, who owns an 8-acre cotton farm in western India, pledged 70 grams of gold, almost all of his wife's precious trinkets, in June in return for 150,000 rupees ($2,105). The trend, which has prompted some lenders to impose restrictions as risks and borrowing costs rise, has been accelerated by record gold prices.
- Quartz
Adidas’ liquefiable sweatshirt shows how hard it is to recycle clothes
Sneaker giant Adidas and British designer Stella McCartney are teaming up to create a recyclable garment called “The Infinite hoodie.” The unisex sweatshirt, a collaboration with Seattle-based textile firm Evrnu, is one of the first 100% recyclable pieces of clothing made by a commercial brand. Only 50 of the sleek cream sweatshirts are being made, and while the hoodie is a step in the right direction—typical garment creation requires mind-boggling amounts of water, pesticides, and chemicals—it’s also a reminder that fashion has a long way to go to create truly sustainable clothing. Ideally, we’d be able to recycle cotton clothing into new material for new garments, but cotton recycling is technically challenging.
- Quartz
An investigation into how India dismantled its main defence against drought
“Normally this nala [stream] is full only during the monsoon,” said Chamariya, a woman in her 40s who lives in Sangvi village in Bhikangaon block and grows cotton and soyabean in its black loamy soils. “The gates help silt to flow out with the water,” said Radheshyam Patel, an agricultural engineer with Samaj Pragati Sahayog, the non-profit organisation that is helping the villagers build the dam. This makes gated dams crucial for water conservation.
- Reuters
India's 2018-19 grain output seen slightly lower: government
India's grains output is expected at 283.37 million tonnes in the crop year June 2019, marginally lower than a year earlier, a government statement said on Monday. India, a leading producer of an array of farm commodities such as rice, wheat, cotton and sugar, produced 285.01 million tonnes of grains in the 2017-18 crop year (July-June), the statement said. Rice output in India, the world's biggest producer of the staple, is expected at a record 115.63 million tonnes, up from 112.76 million in the previous year.
