Despite the fact that the Fed's comments hinted at a rate rise in December, the dollar weakened and made commodities cheaper for holders of other currencies.
When it falls, the dollar makes commodities cheaper for foreign buyers and increase profits for American companies that do business outside the United States.
Energy specialists had a variety of explanations for the drop, including Thursday's weak employment data and a strengthening dollar that tends to make all dollar-denominated commodities cheaper in dollars and more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Analysts say the new data are likely to increase pressure on Beijing to raise interest rates and allow its currency, the renminbi, to appreciate against the U.S. dollar -- a move that would make imports of commodities cheaper but exports more expensive.
Priceline.com, which earned its reputation with the name-your-own-price model for airline tickets, will soon try to interest you in bidding for a new commodity: cheap phone calls.
If a foreign country can supply us with a commodity cheaper than we ourselves can make it, better buy it of them with some part of the produce of our own industry, employed in a way in which we have some advantage.There you have it: the case for globalisation.
But even before the financial crisis, analysts were warning of an impending crash in prices of flat-panel televisions, which were fast becoming commodities that cheap upstarts could emulate.
At year-end, most technology stocks seemed overpriced, while value sectors like financials, energy and commodities looked cheap.
"Price and values solve a lot of problems," says Johnson. "When food and commodities are cheap, you can afford to be very fussy".
Tom Lydon, head of Global Trends Investments, says a weaker dollar will make commodities prices cheaper for foreign buyers using stronger currencies and that demand will increase from companies overseas.
