TMFAleph1 (95.74)

The Bull 'n Bear's Retraction on Commodities Bubble, Mark Haines

May 25, 2011 – Comments (2) | RELATED TICKERS: GLD , SLV

In a post from this month, I completely mischaracterized Jeremy Grantham's position by writing that he had highlighted the bubble in commodities bubble in his April Quarterly Letter. In fact, it's exactly the opposite: Grantham showed that commodities prices suggests that they are in a bubble -- across the board. However, the breadth and magnitude of what, at first glance, appear to be cyclical variations around the long-term trend isn't representative of a bubble; rather, there has been a structural shift in the trend towards permanently higher commodity prices.

Unfortunately, I was relying on an article that mischaracterized Grantham's position and a (very) superficial reading of parts of Granthan's commentary. Shoddy work -- my apologies.

I don't watch CNBC anymore, but I heard this morning that Mark Haines died at his home. His death made more noise in financial circles than I had expected. He was certainly a cut above most of the of the other journalists at CNBC. In particular, his unpretentious style set him well apart from some ofthe younger generation of CNBC anchors that seem mainly preoccupied with selling their own self-brand (Bartiromo, Gasparino -- now at FBN, etc). Sorry to see you go, Mark.

Enjoy your day!