"Iron ore is a very favored commodity in the long term, so this is a very important project for Rio," said Tom Gidley Kitchin, an analyst at Charles Stanley in London.
While he says he is "leery of bonds and steady-Eddie consumer staples," Mr. Paulsen favors commodities, cyclical industries and emerging markets.
Such unevenness, favoring commodities, is unusual, given that manufactured products, even by this definition, account for 40percentt of the nation's exports, while commodities make up only 26percentt and services 30percentt.
Its growth rebalancing will tend to favor commodities more associated with consumption, like agricultural goods, while metals and minerals will be negatively impacted in relative terms by the investment slowdown (although the latter may be partially offset by a still rising demand for residential construction and durable goods in the medium term).
Here's an open letter by many people we admire to Congress imploring lawmakers to improve the farm bill, investing in programs that support conservation, new farmers, local, organic and healthy food, and feeding the hungry, rather than favoring commodity crops.
Instead of commodities or related ETFs that produce no income, I favor stocks of commodity-related companies that trade for inexpensive valuations and offer dividend payouts.
Jeff Layman, who co-manages $1.7 billion for BKD Wealth Advisors in Springfield, Mo., favors the Pimco Commodity Real Return Strategy D fund (PCRDX), which mixes commodities with Treasury inflation-protected securities.
Investors have instead turned toward international stocks, and more recently in favor of commodities.
Unlike the commodities customers, MF Global stockholders favored finding that the insurance policies should go to cover the expenses of the company's officers because that would provide a larger pool of money to settle the securities case.
