Gold fell to a two-year low and took its biggest ever one-day drop yesterday, contributing to huge losses in gold reserves. Although it rallied slightly today, the recent struggles by commodities have been triggered by weak data from China and the US sparking fresh concerns about the strength of the global economy’s recovery. Today’s graphic tracks the price of gold and the value lost on gold reserves during 2013 for a variety of countries.

The energy debate and how to shape future global policies is an ongoing and important discussion. The British Petroleum (BP) Energy Outlook 2030 report, featured in our infographic, contains BP’s projections for long-term energy trends. It highlights the growing role of developing economies in global energy consumption and how tight oil and shale gas are changing the global energy landscape. It also stresses the need to improve energy efficiency, since it believes demand will increase by 40% by 2030. While only projections, the report more importantly examines the challenges the planet faces, and the choices made in producing and consuming energy.

The fight between Asian commodities trader Olam and short-seller Muddy Waters is getting uglier by the minute. Is the best defense a strong offense? Reuters’ Jon Gordon investigates.

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Thomson Reuters Ownership Intelligence offers free access to industry reports, investor profiles, job movements of investment professionals, and much more. Follow @ownershipintel on Twitter.

What’s the outlook for the food, agriculture and beverages, and what will it mean for investors in commodities?

Food companies are facing high costs for commodities, while at the same time consumers are balking at paying any more for the food they eat, putting a squeeze on profits for packaged food makers. At the same time, meat prices are soaring, spurred on by a drought in parts of the United States that could lead to the most expensive grilling season ever for Americans.

As food and agriculture company executives gather for the Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit in Chicago, key topics will include how to mitigate costs and spur consumer demand, how companies whose business involves selling beverages can conserve scarce resources like water and the latest in the battle to get people to eat better.

During closed sessions with Reuters journalists, executives and experts will discuss these issues and more. Some key interviews will air live exclusively on Reuters Insider - our multimedia platform delivering relevant news, analysis and trade ideas.

To get top Summit highlights and upcoming speakers on the go: Sign up now

What are Reuters Summits?
Reuters Summits are a direct link to on-the-record news and views from top CEOs, central bank heads, government leaders, regulators and investors in a given industry, country or region.

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Today, Thomson Reuters, along with the Atlantic Council, the Rotman School of Management, and The Embassy of Canada are hosting a special event, The Financial Crisis: Lessons Learned From Canada and The Way Forward.

The second session today, a panel moderated by Chrystia Freeland, Editor of Thomson Reuters Digital, looked ahead.

Ted Price of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, Canada led with the opinion that “by and large regulatory rules are backward-looking” and therefore ill-suited to prepare us for the future, placing emphasis on the critical importance of supervision.

Jill Sommers, Commissioner of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission spoke to the enormous challenges of crafting regulation in the aftermath of the crisis, saying that making regulation(s) consistent, global and along different timelines, as they are dealing with, was a task of significant complexity and one causing uncertainty for all participants.

Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer pointed to what he called ‘many sensible policies and principles’ in Canada’s approach to markets and business, and raised the challenge of reconciling international activities like electronic trading of ForEx with local/national jurisdiction.

Gordon Nixon, President and CEO of RBC Financial Group talked of the need for “smart regulation” that focused on root causes and effective solutions, and was not overly complex, saying the current situation was “having economic impact.” Nicholas Véron of the Peterson Institute for International Economics discussed deregulation versus re-regulation and the need to figure out what belongs at the local versus international global level(s) in regulatory reform.

Katharine Ramsden is managing editor, Thomson Reuters.

 

Our updated gold graphic charts gold prices since the 1970s. Gold reached its third consecutive day of record highs Wednesday. Prices are expected to pull back a bit Thursday after CME Group hiked margins for trading COMEX gold futures, prompting some investors to take their gains. [Click graphic to enlarge]

You might want to check out our gold post from earlier this week and watch the Reuters Insider video where Prop trader Gil Morales, co-founder of “Virtue of Selfish Investing,” discusses how to spot the end of the upward gold trend and how to get into an existing trend in these volatile markets.

Happy Friday! Did you lose a lot of money in the stock market during the recent economic downturn? You’re probably not alone. But little did we know that there was an investment that could have weathered the storm! The Live-ex fine wine 100 vastly outperformed equities, bonds and commodities through the financial crisis. The only problem is that you have to keep it…and not drink it!

In case you haven’t heard of it, Glencore is one of the world’s largest suppliers of commodities and raw materials, as well as one of the largest privately held companies. But not for long, as Glencore has closed the books on it’s $11 billion IPO, London’s largest listing ever. Today’s graphic takes a look at the market value of Glencore’s public holdings.

How do you expect Glencore’s stock to perform in early months following the IPO?