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Agricultural commodities have seen their prospects shrink (futures notched down) amid bad weather in the US and droughts expected in the near future. Earlier this year crops rallied on tight supplies and unprecedented Chinese demand for farm imports. 

Lumber prices have plummeted 48% to $875 per thousand board feet from its May peak, reflecting a sharper than expected pullback in renovation projects. Falling prices have given economists confidence that a burst of inflation could soon pass. However, prices remain well in excess of the previous 2018 record of $651 per thousand board feet and about three times the historical price average.

It is likely that gold is a little oversold, but many jumped on the occasion to buy the dip, stabilizing the price above the $1,750 mark. 

The US Dollar headed for one of its best weeks since last September as gold began dropping sharply and stock markets generally fell. The US central bank is partly to blame as official brought forward their estimates for the first post-pandemic interest rate rise. 

Despite a ramp up in oil demand in recent months, wildcatters in West Texas are not firing up rigs like they used to and production remain down 15% from a peak seen last year. This pushes US crude prices higher. Some say we could see, for the first time in 5 years, West Texas Intermediate oil going neck-to-neck with Brent. The result is a growing backwardation in the U.S. oil futures market where oil for prompt delivery is more expensive than later-dated contracts. That’s prompting traders to sell their barrels now rather than hold them for later. The relative enthusiasm for WTI is also showing up in where traders are deploying their money. Total open interest across all WTI contracts rose above that of all Brent futures months for the first time since 2018 last month. WTI open interest is up about 15% this year, while Brent is only up 1%.