It has been a great one-week run for the stock of fertilizer producer CF Industries Holdings (CF). The company is trading at $155.91, up almost $6 after hitting a high of $156.34, and smashing the 2011 high of $153.83 set on February 10. CF closed at $139.06 last Friday, so it’s up 12.1% in five days. It could go higher, but I think the risk is there for a pullback until mid-next week, when we get a better fix on the weather going into early June. Our target price for CF is $186 by harvest time in October.

Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) has announced that it is raising prices on bagged coffee for sale at its U.S. locations an average of 17% due to rising coffee costs. The company stated that the in-store increase goes into effect July 12. Starbucks is not the only company feeling pressure to raise prices due to rising agricultural commodity prices. The J. M. Smucker Company (SJM) also announced this week that it is raising prices 11% on packaged coffee, including Folgers, Millstone and packaged Dunkin’ Donuts sold at supermarkets. Smucker bought Folgers from Proctor & Gamble Co. (PG) in 2008, and also raised coffee prices 10% in February and twice in 2010 (over a 30% increase since then). Kraft, maker of Maxwell House, raised its brand's price similarly over the last year.

Zinc, also known as spelter, is a metallic element which is used all across modern communities. Aside from being an important industrial metal, the commodity is also an important mineral to the human body, as a zinc deficiency can cause major health problems.

Most people in the car industry believe that rising gas prices will crimp car sales. However, according to a recent survey, 32% of Americans say they will buy a new more fuel efficient car if the price of gasoline rises above $5 per gallon.

The S&P GSCI Index of 24 raw materials dropped about 10% since the Goldman (GS) sell call on April 11. It was up over 1% today on the new bullish call by both GS and Morgan Stanley (MS).

Our universe of coal stocks has come down between 10% and 20% since we last discussed these names back in March. Oil and natural gas prices have come off of their rallies induced by the Japan disaster and Arab revolt, a deflation which spilled over into coal prices. Plus, demand in the United States has been weak, a situation that higher export volumes couldn't overcome. However, this short-term blip hasn't dented coal companies' enthusiasm. Uniformly, industry management has been very bullish on the long-term prospects for coal prices, with the term "super cycle" brandished on more than one occasion.

Most of the naysayers to the fact that gold is a wildly overvalued commodity seem to think it is not a bubble because gold is "currency." Even Cramer has weighed in that gold is currency -- so buy, buy, buy. The truth is that gold is not currency because it doesn't meet the economic definition of "currency" and will never be able to in the modern world.

To hear the mainstream media tell it, the commodities bubble has burst. Commodities are plunging across the board in response to the latest U.S. data, most of which seems to suggest that the American economic recovery is waning. Oil, which closed at $100 a barrel yesterday, was particularly hard hit, which is why so many suggest the commodities bubble has met its end.

The prices of rare earth oxides are blasting through the stratosphere. Manufacturers are driving prices in their haste to involve the materials in production of hybrid vehicles, wind turbines, and the most high tech applications of which many sophisticated investors are unaware. These producers need the rare earth ore and are willing to pay for it on the world markets.

Silver followers with an hour to spare – or those just interested in the junior precious metal – might benefit from listening […]

At first glance, you might think this is a stretch. How can snowpack levels in the West possibly have anything to do with the price of natural gas nationally? It turns out that Rocky Mountain snowfall has a huge impact… Resulting water runoff from the thawing period changes the capacity of hydropower on the West Coast… and that has a huge impact on natural gas demand. Plus it varies greatly from year to year.

Has oil moved into backwardation yet? What does corn’s roll yield look like? How do you know when it’s time to buy — or sell? Each week, we investigate the futures curves of the U.S.’ most important commodities, helping investors better understand the market and seize buy-and-sell opportunities as soon as they arise.