Critiquing NYTimes coverage of commodities

In Sunday’s New York Times, writer Conrad De Aenlle wrote about commodities such as oil, copper, lumber and gold, wondering whether they were the next bull market.

De Aenlle stated, “A widely followed benchmark of commodity prices, the Commodity Research Bureau index, reached a record high recently after nearly doubling since late 2001. Shares of companies that supply these materials — gas pipeline operators, miners of industrial and precious metals, forest products concerns — have followed a similar trajectory, but some analysts contend that prices have risen too far, too fast.”

This web site offers a critique of the article, stating, “Long story short, both the NY Times and Mr. De Aenlle seem to want their cake and eat it too. They have gone negative on commodities groups ‘for the short term’ while quoting numerous examples of money mangers who are long those groups and seem to be bullish ‘long-term.’ While this is not all that unusual when back up technical or fundamentals are provided, in this instance it simply seems to be a case of hedging without making a decision.”

The same web site, which is geared toward investors, later adds, “The article offers a brief over view of a few various commodity related companies and sectors but does very little by way of real guidance on what to do with the information.”

Read the entire critique here.