David Fickling, Columnist

How the Commodities Bounce Could Finish Noble

If you're a trader, higher prices can be an existential threat.

August 10, 2017 at 12:29 PM UTC

David Fickling is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering climate change and energy. Previously, he worked for Bloomberg News, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.

1502368768_GettyImages-510772626 — Photographer: Jasper Juinen

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It's customary for companies reporting a horror-show result to blame the general trading environment, rather than anything within control of management.

Commodities trader Noble Group Ltd. is no exception. In declaring that it had been holed below the waterline with a $1.9 billion net loss over the June quarter, the company declared the problem was not with the crew, but the weather: