Category: Agricultural Commodities
The analysis published under this category are as follows.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Soybeans: The New Corn / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Ned_W_Schmidt
Markets are intriguing due to their constantly changing character. New leadership constantly evolves. In equity markets, that tendency is always pushed to an extreme. A maker of electronic toys is today considered the most valuable company. Nonsensical forecasts of a $1,000 share price have even appeared. A company involved in the social networking fad is praised for a billion-dollar acquisition of a company with no revenues, making the internet bubble look like value investing.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Hot Oil Anyone? / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Ned_W_Schmidt
The topic of hot oil probably conjures up fantasies that are beyond the boundaries for this public discussions. And no, neither are we referring to the oil made into gasoline, though the price of that oil has been hot lately. We are referring to that oil which goes on your salad, used to fry your dinner, or is a critical ingredient in many of our favorite foods. We are talking here about vegetable oils, or edible oils. While not a regular topic for investors, it may become one as edible oil prices could get hot in coming years.
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Friday, February 24, 2012
Inflation Means Less Cluck for Your Buck / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Ned_W_Schmidt
An important trend for many years has been the rising preference of consumers for chicken. Apparently those boneless, skinless, tasteless, chicken breasts are quite popular. In the U.S., production of broilers, table chicken, exceeds by ~50% the production of either pork or beef, when measured by weight. And those "clucks" are now costing more bucks.
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Saturday, February 11, 2012
Barley Investing Better Than Gold and Silver? / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Ned_W_Schmidt
Over the past five years, barley, of the eighteen commodities we follow, was the top performer. Rising by 180+% it bested Gold, +170%, and Silver, +150%. But why quibble? Nearly all commodity prices have done than paper equities. And perhaps they should, as real assets require real work to produce and are essential to the real world.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Agri-Equities and the Global Food Crisis / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Ned_W_Schmidt
Some may have considered a planter of herbs on the patio for that taste only freshly picked gives. Many of us have a garden for fresh vegetables in the back yard. In the city that is about all that most can do. For in the city, no chickens are allowed. Most communities have strong ordinances against raising a flock of chickens in the backyard. And forget it, no cows for milk either.
Friday, January 06, 2012
Food, The Near-Perfect Product / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Ned_W_Schmidt
What if we found a product to which consumers have an uncontrollable physical craving?
What if consumers bought more of this addictive product as their incomes rose?
What if as their incomes rose they demanded higher quality, more expensive to produce versions of this product?
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Tuesday, December 06, 2011
Meat-to-Feed Ratio: Feeding the Agricultural Commodities Bull? / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Ned_W_Schmidt
With 2011 about to be history, investor should be thinking about two matters. How did various market sectors perform during the year, and why did they do so? That task is part of the learning process. It allows us to refine our thinking, and shed thoughts that will not be productive in the future. Second, we are of course interested in the implications of current trends for investments in the coming year. 2012 is still a blank page. Thus far as 2012 is concerned, we have made no mistakes. To start this learning process the first chart portrays the performance of the various sectors of the Agri-Food market over the past year.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
BHP, Vale, Rio Tinto, World's Largest Miners Like Potash / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Richard_Mills
Miners are looking to enter the potash business, or expand existing operations, as they look for increased demand from developing nations such as China, India and Brazil.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Crop-Killing Drought to Push Food Price Inflation Even Higher / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Money_Morning
David Zeiler writes:
A drought affecting one-third of the lower 48 states has hurt several key food crops, driving up prices this year and assuring widespread food inflation well into 2012.
According to the National Climatic Data Center, the drought has caused more than $10 billion in losses to agriculture and cattle, a number it expects to keep rising as the drought continues.
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Saturday, October 29, 2011
New Bull Phase for Agricultural Commodities Grains ETF / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Mike_Paulenoff
The medium-term technical work in the iPath DJ-UBS Grains TR Sub-Idx ETN (JJG) indicates that a new bull phase started after the June 2010 low at 32.33, which completed its initial up leg at the Feb 2011 high of 58.25.
All of the action off of the Feb 2011 high, into the Oct 4 low, represented a complex corrective process that fully digested the gains of the prior up leg.
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Friday, October 28, 2011
High Corn Prices Burning Meat Companies But Agribusiness Will Thrive / Currencies / Agricultural Commodities
By: Money_Morning
David Zeiler writes:
High corn prices are creating misery for meat processing companies that are getting squeezed on profits and consumers who are getting squeezed in their wallets.
Just about the only group to benefit from high corn prices will be agribusiness companies that make the equipment and supplies farmers will need to grow more corn.
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Thursday, October 27, 2011
Two Ways to Profit From La Nina Seasonal Weather Shift / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Money_Morning
Jack Barnes writes:
If you follow the commodity markets, you know that weather can have a dramatic effect on your investments.
A flood, drought, hurricane, tornado, or even something as simple as the changing of the seasons can be a game changer.
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Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Compelling Case for Urgent Action in the Global Food System / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Ned_W_Schmidt
UK Government Office of Science report on global food situation, The Future of Food and Farming (2011):Challenges and choices for global sustainability is likely to become the benchmark for such research, and will be quoted extensively in the years ahead. Sir John Beddington, Chief Scientific Advisor to HM Government, summarizes the situation well in the preface to this 200+ page report,
Sunday, October 02, 2011
Agri-Equities Potential for Significant Profit Expansion / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Ned_W_Schmidt
A center of global commerce? Connecting to the global Agri-Food system? Helping to feed Japan, Korea, and China? Why yes, Moses Lake, Washington comes immediately to mind. In the Hay Report from World news services via wenatcheeworld.com we discover, "Moses Lake (Sept 16) -- Tonnage this week: 18,180; last week: 19,555; last year: 14,970." That year-to-year increase for bales of hay sold is 20+%, and might have been higher had supply not been constrained in the U.S.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Investing in Farmland for Healthy Profits / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Money_Morning
Larry D. Spears writes:
If Mark Twain was talking about investing in farmland when he suggested "buy land - they're not making anymore," then he knew more about finance than he's credited with.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago just reported that prime farmland prices in the heart of the U.S. grain belt (Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin) - were up 17% in the second quarter compared to 2010, the biggest year-over-year increase since 1977.
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Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Agri-Food Prices Make New Highs / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Ned_W_Schmidt
Unburdened by the failure of Keynesian socialism, China continues to grow. India, despite repeated self inflicted political wounds, is also likely to experience an expanding economy. With the EU suffering from another financial crisis, it is unlikely to have a positive economic experience in the next few years. In the U.S. job killing policies and regulations of Obama regime stand in the way of expanding employment.
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Thursday, August 25, 2011
Hedge Higher Food Prices by Investing in Corn / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Money_Morning
David Zeiler writes:
A smaller-than-expected U.S. fall harvest, combined with strong demand, has sown the seeds of higher corn market prices. That will inflate your grocery bill, but it's also an investing opportunity that should persist into next year according to some experts.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently reduced its forecast for the fall corn crop to 12.9 billion bushels from 13.5 billion based on damage from spring flooding and summer drought in several key corn-producing states.
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Monday, August 15, 2011
Agri-Food's Impacted by U.S. Treasury Sucking $245 Billion Out of Financial Markets / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Ned_W_Schmidt
Since last Tuesday, when the U.S. Congress delivered a sugar-coated pig in a blanket sandwich rather than a deficit reduction plan, the Obama regime has been on a wild spending spree. Thus far, the U.S. Treasury, in little more than a week, has sucked $245 billion out of financial markets through the sale of U.S. government debt. Little else need be known to explain the collapse of financial markets.
Sunday, August 07, 2011
Agri-Foods Price Correction Breeds Investor Opportunities / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Ned_W_Schmidt
Time is an important component of both healing and financial corrections. Some times, it just takes time. To date, the correction in Agri-Food prices, as shown by the index in the chart below, has been modest. The Agri-Food Price Index has declined less than 7% from the high to the recent low. That would be considered modest by most.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Agri-Foods Price Consolidation Fuel for the Next Rally / Commodities / Agricultural Commodities
By: Ned_W_Schmidt
Primary difference between a correction and a consolidation is the depth of the downward price movement. Consolidations are milder, though that might require a longer time period. In both though, an important regenerative process takes place. The fuel for the next rally is accumulated, and thinking is refreshed. In short, both should be welcomed, and their conclusion anticipated.