The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials. The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical [...]

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Asian stocks and the won plunged to 10-month lows after a report that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il ordered his military to prepare for combat last week. The euro weakened and commodities declined on concern Europe’s debt crisis will spread. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 3.1 percent to 109.24 a 1:30 p.m. in Tokyo, set for [...]

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As an investment, gold has never been more popular. And, for individual investors, that’s part of the problem. Gold spot prices hit a record of $1,243.10 per ounce in Comex trading on May 12 before slipping $13.90, or 1.1 percent, to $1,230.10 on May 13. In the past three years, the precious metal is up [...]

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Crude oil volatility surged to its highest in almost two months as turmoil across financial markets prompts speculators to sell futures contracts. Oil’s 30-day historical volatility, a measure of how much crude fluctuates around its average price during that period, jumped 53 percent from near a three-year low in mid-April. Hedge fund managers and other [...]

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LONDON: The world faces an oil supply crunch within the next five years, British business leaders led by Virgin tycoon Richard Branson warned on Wednesday. The rate at which oil is produced risks hitting a peak by 2015, sparking a surge in crude prices and living costs, said a report from the UK Industry Taskforce [...]

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VIENNA: The OPEC oil producers’ cartel held its forecast for modest growth in world oil demand this year on Wednesday, but warned the slow pace of economic recovery was clouding the outlook. “The slow pace of the recovery in the world economy in 2010 is putting pressure on oil demand,” the Organization of Petroleum Exporting [...]

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Think the TARP tax rocked the market? That doesn’t compare to the next possible jolt it may get. But don’t panic –  this jolt should be bullish and take the market higher. Now make no mistake – this is strictly chatter from the forex markets and they’re “the Wild West,” explains top trader Brian Kelly of [...]

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Fresh worries are emerging that prices of commodities, including energy, could nip incipient growth in the bud. INVESTORS and speculators are shrugging off the generally muted expectations of economic growth among economists, and betting on a further upturn in prices of commodities. Underlying this optimism is a benign view of global economic growth that may [...]

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