On a daily basis my Google Reader feeds me nearly 500 articles on topics ranging from Delta Global's portfolio holdings to crude oil crack spreads. The benefit to me is obvious: I get news fed to me constantly allowing me to stay as current as possible on the markets.  The downside is that because I am a Green Faucet contributor I want to write about every interesting article I come across. Since there are only 24 hours in the day, this is an impossibility. My solution is a weekly link dump where I link to and touch briefly upon the most interesting news stories of the past week as determined by my google reader.  My goal is to provide readers with news stories which they may not have seen and provide some context for them.   So let's get to it.

This story below from Bloomberg is further proof that the long-term outlook for Agricultural commodities is still MASSIVELY bullish. If there was any sector that was as undervalued as global ag when the markets capitulated, I would like to see it.

Passage of note:

"Corn, wheat, rice and soybeans, which rose to records in 2008, may climb again after larger crops and lower demand pushed prices down, the executives said today at the World Agricultural Forum [1] in St. Louis. Output will need to double by 2050 even as climate change, soil degradation and scarcity of arable land reduce it by 25 percent, the United Nations said in February."

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=a.U3bDp_LqU4&refer=canada [2]

For those investors who own gold or want to own gold, are not geologists, and want to understand how it goes from a survey to a Kugerand, this article is extremely helpful:

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page72558?oid=83490&sn=Detail [3]

Singapore's status as the most politically and economically stable country in Asia has allowed it to overachieve economically, especially when you consider it is devoid of natural resources. The importance of international esteem is once again allowing Singapore to entrench itself in the middle of economic cooperation between East and West. Actually, it is intermediating the meeting of Mid-East and East. Singapore's strong economic ties to both China and Abu Dhabi position them well to benefit from the exchange of capital between these two powerhouses:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/430558/1/.html [4]

I think this offering from Anglogold speaks volumes of the fundamental strength of this sector. In fact, Hanlon often wonders aloud which sector has more attractive long term fundamentals currently than gold? I think the answer is none. Strong balance sheets, declining costs, fiscal imbalances, and reckless fiat creation have all helped gold miners move up by 25% in the past month. Add this to what looks like an increasingly favorable environment for financing costs and we could see significant consolidation.

Even considering Anglogold is a top flight gold miner, the fact that they were able to increase the offering by nearly $82.5 million is impressive enough. The fact that the coupon on the bond 3.5% is downright shocking:

http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/keyDevelopments?symbol=AU.N&rpc=66&timestamp=20090520060000 [5]

Interesting article below discussing Monday's action in Patriot Coal call options. It seems there are aggressive bets being made that the stock can make a hard break into the double digits. I have been to see Patriot in St. Louis and love their assets, but lest we not forget this was a $2.75 stock as recently as March. While I do think the stock was priced for bankruptcy at those levels, it was also severely overvalued at $82. This article ran on Monday and PCX is trading at $10.51 as we type.

http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/content/patriot+coal+corporations+call+players+set+their+sights+on+double-digit+territory/trading_floor_blog.aspx?ID=93067 [6]

Nice to see China approve the Oz Minerals deal. I think after blocking the Coca Cola deal and seeing public opposition to the Chinalco financing deal with Rio growing in Australia, China had no choice. They need to try and increase goodwill in a world rife with protectionist sentiment.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/05/18/ap6433899.html [7]

Two of Australia's telecom giants fight it out. Not exactly for the most impressive honor:

http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/05/20/optus-takes-on-telstra-for-the-worst-customer-service-in-australia/ [8]

An insightful look at the landscape for two of Asia's mature communications markets:

http://www.telecommagazine.com/newsglobe/article.asp?HH_ID=AR_5271 [9]

British Bank Lloyds has been under as much pressure as any bank globally through the credit crisis. This article explains why they still need to restructure to be granted government money. A very tenuous place to be if you are Lloyds , still in need of government funds despite the improvement of credit and equity markets globally:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6ac9f4c4-451f-11de-b6c8-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1 [10]

If you would like to see all the articles I pass along on a daily basis, follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/PaulBaiocchi [11]