End Use: Metals Fuels Food VIX

ƒ∝δατα

“The Better Legend” is here ↓

	Series	*	End Use Metals Fuels Food VIX	(Scale) Size		Period	ƒ(x) ‡
1	IQ121		Export (End Use): Iron and steel products	3	Solid	M	% Chg fYA * 2
2	GVZCLS		CBOE Gold ETF Volatility Index	2	Solid	W (m)	% Chg fYA
3	IQ12200		Export (End Use): Aluminum and alumina	3	Solid	M	% Chg fYA
4	OILPRICE		Spot Oil Price: West Texas Intermediate	5	Solid	M	% Chg fYA
6	IQ11110		Export (End Use): Fuel oil	2	Solid	M	% Chg fYA
6	IQ12210		Export (End Use): Copper	3	Solid	M	% Chg fYA
7	IR000		Import (End Use): Green coffee, cocoa beans, sugar	5	Solid	M	% Chg fYA
8	IQ00200		Export (End Use): Corn	5	Solid	M	% Chg fYA
9	IQ00000		Export (End Use): Wheat	5	Solid	M	% Chg fYA
10	IQ00100		Export (End Use): Soybeans and soybean by-products...	5	Solid	M	% Chg fYA
11	IQ		Export (End Use): All commodities	2	Solid	M	% Chg fYA * 10
12	VIXCLS		CBOE Volatility Index: VIX	3	Dotted	D (c)	% Chg fYA

* All metals are marked with squares EXCEPT Gold which is marked with a circle to conform with earlier ƒ∝δατα charts.
‡ Transformation multiples for Iron/Steel(1) and Commodities(11) are strictly for visual amplification. Values have been chosen relative to  the chart's ordinate bounds. No misinformation or misrepresentation is intended, nor should it be inferred.

The CBOE Gold ETF isn't really “gold,” but it'll do for demonstration purposes, which is all these charts are really good for. I mean: considering how little I pay to make them – $0.00 + endless hours = my current employment status – they're more than serviceable.

All the real metals are marked with squares, and all the “edibles” have triangles pointing down along their heavier lines. Eating is a rather necessary endeavor and thus has more “weight” than metals for most of us. The track for oil has been moved to the background and shaded darkly as it's price in the market casts a pall over all economic activity and especially over the other commodities. It takes fuel to mine the earth for metals and wrest food from the land, thus fuel oil is shown in a lighter grey and with smaller circles than those for oil. All data are shown in percent “change from a year ago.”

The CBOE Volitility Index (The VIX) is the dark red jagged and dotted line. The track for “all commodities” is shown with a solid, thin red trace and has been amplified ten times. As annotated below the chart, “all commodities” (11) and “iron and steel products” (1) have undergone a simple transformation solely for visual acuity. I sure hope nobody's making investment decisions based on any of this, but if you do: drop me a line. And good luck with those “segregated accounts.”