Daily FNArena News

Barclays Capital has reviewed the performance of commodity markets for the last quarter and concludes oil and base metals should go higher while gold looks like moving sideways.

Oil prices are again near their highs of this time last year but according to Commonwealth Bank the difference is OPEC can lift production and boost supply.

The Dow recovered somewhat from an initial 134 point fall last night as bargain hunters offset inevitable Bear Stearns weakness and disappointment from Mr Bernanke.

Weekly musings from your editor. This week the Aussie dollar, Iluka, the greenback but above all the Japanese yen have caught his attention.

As Bear Stearns’ hedge funds are declared worthless, investment banks are getting stuck with private equity LBO loans and bonds, and Moody’s moves in on higher quality mortgage securities.

Nothing wrong with how the Aussie economy is performing and the prospects remain healthy, the latest Leading Index by Westpac-Melbourne Institute suggests.

Wall Street action was all after the bell this morning as Bear Stearns announced its funds at the centre of the subprime crisis were close to worthless and some poor profit results were posted.

Shares in Progen have halved in recent months and Intersuisse suggests this offers a value opportunity for longer-term investors given trials results to date have been positive.

Wednesday night’s CPI result in the US should provide a clue to the next move in gold as the US dollar threatens to truly collapse.

NZ inflation for the June quarter rose 1.0% against expectations of a 0.8% gain so the market is factoring in a July rate hike, but not all analysts agree the RBNZ will again tighten.