June 1, 2023· 49 min

Counterfeiting Scandals Keep Slamming the Commodities Market

Orality

Model

86%

Highly oral (epic poetry, sermons, hip-hop)

Speaker Breakdown

HostJoe Weisenthal(2,023 words)

M:29%

HostTracy Alloway(3,299 words)

M:27%

Oral Indicators

Agonistic23%

basically, definitely, very

Engagement64%

you, our, your

Memory Aids100%

listen, like, okay

Repetition100%

like (121x), right (79x), yeah (70x)

Parallelism75%

And I'm Joe Weisenthal...., But okay...., So written on this tablet was ...

Sound Patterns96%

93 question(s), alliteration: "markets move", alliteration: "barclays brief"

Formulaic Phrases4%

you know what, i mean

Literate Indicators

Hedging8%

may, could, quite

Passive Voice9%

was promised, were associated, are supposed

Abstract Nouns14%

investment, community, business

Subordination4%

because, while, although

Sentence Length28%

Avg: 12.1 words/sentence

Word Complexity47%

investment, analyze, anticipate

Academic Markers0%

Impersonal Style36%

620 personal pronouns found

Descriptive Style69%

apply, basically, actually

Description

Earlier this year, it emerged that the London Metals Exchange had been holding a bunch of bags filled with stones instead of the nickel needed to back trades for major commodities players, including Trafigura. Before that, commodities trader Mercuria was given painted rocks instead of the copper it was supposed to take delivery of. In short, the commodities world is no stranger to fraud. But what is it about the business of trading, moving and storing commodities that makes it so susceptible to scandal? In this episode, we speak to repeat Odd Lots guests and commodities collateral specialists Mercury Group CEO Anton Posner and President Margo Brock, about some recent episodes of counterfeiting in commodities world, why they seem to keep happening, and what could be done to prevent further instances from occurring. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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