Commodities go ka-ching

2007 percentage change:

Lead - up 78%
Wheat - up 73%
Heating Oil - up 58%
Soybeans - up 58%
Gas Oil - 53%
Crude Oil - up 45%
Gold - up 22%
Cotton - up 3%
Coffee - down 1%
Corn - down 1%
Lean Hogs - down 11%
Aluminum - down 13%
Sugar - down 17%
Nickel - down 21%
Zinc - down 41%

Commodity prices are jumping for a host of reasons. Two in particular: India and China, whose economies are racing. Also, much of Asia and the Third World in general are seeing dramatically higher standards of living. And, poor weather hurt this years world wheat crop. Rising demand for corn-based ethanol means not only that agriculture prices are more closely tied to oil prices, but that farmers are devoting more acreage to corn and less to other crops - a big reason soybean prices jumped bout $6 a bushel on futures markets last year to nearly $11 this year.