Money and Markets -- For a Fistful of Silver

"For a Fistful of Silver" was my original name for today's MoneyandMarkets.com column. My editors replaced that with "Finding Attractive Mexican Miners," which sounded to me more like a Craiglist personal ad than a financial piece.

We were able to compromise on "Once Upon a Time in Mexico." I can live with that.

Once Upon A Time in Mexico
by Sean Brodrick
Wednesday, June 04, 2008 7:30 AM
In the mid-1500s, legend has it that Spanish explorers were traveling through the Guanajuato region of Mexico when they camped for the night by the side of a river. They piled stones in a ... [More...]

Other News You Can Use ...

South African Gold Output falls 15.6% in Q1

South Africa's Chamber of Mines said on Tuesday the country's gold production fell 15.6 percent to 52,228 kg in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the fourth quarter of 2007, owing to a power shortage. On a year-on-year basis, the rate of decline in gold production was 16.8 percent in the first quarter of 2008.

Oil Inventory Numbers Come Out Today

Today's inventory report will be delayed by 5 minutes. It will be released at 10:35 AM Eastern time until further notice. At any rate, the the consensus analysts' estimates are ...

Crude Oil, UP 2.7 million barrels.
Gasoline, UP .9 million barrels.
Distillates, UP 1.6 million barrels.

We'll see how things work out.

United Will Shrink Fleet by 70 Planes, Eliminate 1,100 Jobs, Scuttle Ted UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, the world's second-largest carrier, will ground 70 additional planes, cut as many as 1,100 more jobs and shut its low-fare Ted unit to help counter record fuel costs.

Commodities to Be `Much, Much Weaker' as Dollar Strengthens, Gartman Says Commodities will become ``much, much weaker'' after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled support for the U.S. dollar, Dennis Gartman, economist and editor of the Gartman Letter, told clients.

XX Sean's note -- Gartman's view can sway the markets, so he's usually right for about three days. Then again, with Bernanke coming out and supporting the dollar with strong words yesterday, I do expect the US dollar to bounce anyway. Much bigger worries are that 1) Asian governments are limiting oil, gasoline and diesel subsidies and 2) the US government may restrict commodity markets ...

1) India and Malaysia raise price of subsidized fuel With no end in sight to high world oil prices, India and Malaysia on Wednesday became the latest Asian countries to risk the wrath of voters by raising the price of subsidized fuel, a highly unpopular measure that could further weaken the governments of both countries made fragile by recent electoral setbacks.

The moves follow similar price increases in Indonesia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and are a recognition by governments that they can no longer shelter their populations from the spike in energy prices.

2) Corn Falls on Dollar's Rally, U.S. Government Investigation; Wheat Gains Corn futures declined for a second day in Chicago on speculation the dollar's recovery and a government investigation of U.S. futures trading may reduce investment demand. Soybeans were little changed and wheat rose.

Check out my new gold and energy blog at MoneyAndMarkets.com