Stormy Weather

"Commodities traders must get very little sleep in the hurricane months of the year. But Dean isn't the only storm that has traders and investors on edge…the storm of selling on Wall Street has most up nights."

Hurricane Dean made landfall today in Mexico, strengthening to a category 2 storm, with winds up to 100 mph, forcing over 1,000 residents to evacuate.

Dean moved into the Bay of Campeche, shutting down the entire oil fields operations, including 100 oil platforms, three major oil exporting ports and the Cantarell oil field, which is Mexico's most productive.

Well, 'tis the season…commodities traders must get very little sleep in the hurricane months of the year. But Dean isn't the only storm that has traders and investors on edge…the storm of selling on Wall Street has most up nights.

"The sea of red that was the commodities markets last week was more an act of covering margin calls in the equity markets than a well-thought fundamental shift. After all, what do soybeans and wheat have to do with subprime mortgages? We saw selling in key staple commodities across the board as traders reached for any source of equity they could in the wake of the Dow's relentless selling.

"Both storms are impacting commodities and resource stocks across the board. Such ill weather, however, is providing plenty of opportunity for those who stay calm and know where to look."

Luckily, Kevin's Resource Trader Alert subscribers are staying calm and sitting pretty - because Kevin tells them exactly where to look…

*** Very interesting news coming from China today - by way of The 5 Min. Forecast:

For the first time, Chinese citizens will be allowed to purchase shares on the Hong Kong exchange. Domestic investors can now open accounts at the Bank of China and trade all aspects of the Hong Kong market.

"This is, potentially, a big deal," explains Addison, "The Chinese have $2.2 trillion in savings… which can now be deployed in the market. Chinese traders no longer have to jump through the mainland's bureaucratic hoops when moving money internationally."

"'It is sometimes hard to believe,' Chris Mayer tells us, 'but the impact of China on the world economy could still be much greater as the economy liberalizes further and as it gets larger. Right now, China has a lot of money. And where it ultimately invests that money could have a major effect on market prices.'"

"'Personally,' Christopher Hancock chimed in, 'I'm amazed this didn't make the front page of the Financial Times. This is probably the most important financial development in China since the entry into the WTO in 2001.

"'This is great news for the Hong Kong market, especially Chinese companies that don't have either a Shanghai or Shenzhen listing. This also gives Chinese citizens a way to access foreign exchange markets by investing in companies listed in Hong Kong that derive a majority of their profits in other currencies.'

"The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong jumped 6% on the news -- the biggest gain in eight years. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks mainland Chinese companies traded in Hong Kong, soared nearly 9%."

For more breaking news, check out what Addison and Ian have been up to at The 5 Min. Forecast

*** Just because something hasn't happened ever before - doesn't mean it never will. In echoing Bill's sentiment in his above piece: people have begun to expect something for nothing…there's seems to be this sense of 'entitlement' pervading our society…but eventually people will realize that there's no such thing as a free lunch - and even though it's a total cliché: that if something looks to good to be true, it probably is.

Unfortunately, some people are being forced to learn that the hard way. Take investors in Sentinel Management Group - a money market fund. On Tuesday, Sentinel Management Group froze assets in a $1.5 billion fund, saying too many investors are trying to withdraw their money. "We have never experienced a situation quite like this one," Sentinel Management said. "Liquidity has dried up all over the Street."

"What happened is that Sentinel thought that just because it has not seen something yet, it could not happen," writes Mike "Mish" Shedlock in today's guest essay.

"This is, in essence, the same thing that happened to the models at Moody's, Fitch, and the S&P, and various quant models. On Tuesday, Sentinel asked the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission for permissions to halt redemptions. The request was denied."

Be sure and check out today's guest essay for more on Sentinel - and some free tips on how to not become a Sentinel victim.