Edward Meir Quotations

Yesterday's sell-off was a shot across the bow, but we don't think the bulls will be heading for the hills anytime soon.

More likely, it was continued nervousness about gasoline supplies and possible commercial buying on the back of healthy crack spreads.

New money may not enter the markets with the same vigor as has been the case in the past, especially if growth in the U.S. shows signs of slowing on the back of steadily rising interest rates.

We think that major moves ... should be held in check, as low volumes suggest that many people are either away, or uninterested in initiating new positions.

We maintain our general view that these markets have to be given some respect given the fact that we still have sizeable outages going into Q4.

There are still no signs of a downturn in global economic activity, suggesting that the fundamental backdrop for most commodities, including crude, remains favorable. We'll see if this week's U.S. numbers change any of that.

I think we were probably a bit overdone on the upside and there's some profit-taking taking place today.

The prolonged drama probably explains why markets have not done much of anything in response to the news. Participants have perhaps concluded that things will take a lot longer to come to a head -- if they do at all.

While fundamentals are tight in several of the metals, they cannot justify current valuations. Markets are, instead, held hostage by the growing amount of investment and speculative money out there that is increasingly finding its way into commodities.

There is some understandable nervousness about today's copper-stock increase.

We cannot rule out further gains later in the week, particularly if (DOE) inventory numbers surprise.

Commodities seem to be a rather popular alternative (to bonds, equities and the dollar) for funds searching for a trend.

The strike in Nigeria, if it does come to pass, will have a limited price impact and could very well follow June's pattern, where a sharp spike after the strike announcement was followed almost immediately by sizeable selling,

Sometimes one comes across an especially odd trading day when nothing much makes sense. Yesterday's session was a case in point, with the action in the natural gas complex being particularly puzzling.

As long as the prospect of sanctioning 4 million barrels per day of Iranian oil is out there, the Iranian situation, in our view, will be the front and center issue that will command market attention.

A test of $6,000 now looks like it is around the corner.

It remains to be seen whether this latest really will be upstaged by this week's EIA inventory reports. We think not; the markets are grappling with three simultaneous geopolitical hotspots right now, increasing the odds that at least one -- if not all three -- of these situations will override the potentially bearish consequence of an inventory increase.

It's hard to pinpoint what the reasons behind yesterday's price surge were.

The Nigerian problem, it seems, is transforming itself from a pesky, on-again, off-again, bottleneck to one with more staying power.

The Nigerian news would typically not get much of a market hearing given the modest amounts usually involved and the relatively short-lived nature of disruptions. However, given the potential crisis with Iran, markets are moving higher on just about any news that entails a possible supply pinch.

The copper rally has surprised us all, even the die-hard bulls among us.

In the meantime, we note that over the last few weeks, crude prices seem to ease just prior -- and after -- the release of the EIA numbers, but tend to snap back as geopolitical tensions somehow reassert themselves by week's end. We will see if this pattern plays out again this week.

I am not sure where the bottom of this market is, but $4,650-a-tonne is very important. If that is broken, lots of selling orders will be triggered.

The Iranian situation remains on top of the heap in terms of market concerns.

The growth picture looks very solid. We're not seeing any slowdown at all in any of the major metal-consuming countries, despite higher energy prices and higher interest rates.

Although details have yet to emerge (prompting the White House to withhold comment) energy bulls are undoubtedly fretting.