Trouble brewing beyond the oil fields

It does not take much to rattle the commodity markets these days. Despite a dramatic slowdown in the United States and within Western Europe, there is certainly enough demand and enough speculation to have a new record close for oil this week, above $100 a barrel. The trigger for the final close above that benchmark was a refinery explosion. Fingers were also pointed at the falling dollar, potential unrest in Nigeria and Hugo Chavez’s unpredictable nature as the overseer of Venezuelan crude. With the strong growth underway in the Middle East region for this year and the mammoth construction boom, prices for everything from iron ore to make steel, to Arabica coffee beans to make cappuccinos, are at record highs. There is a whole basket of so called soft and hard commodities skyrocketing — and for good reason. Demand outside of the Group of Seven countries remains strong and minor