Cultural The Year of the Rabbit Arrives The Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations began on Saturday with festive New Year’s Eve gatherings. Sunday marked the first day of the annual Spring Festival, which will continue through 1 February and then conclude with the Lantern Festival, which runs 2–5 February. This all-important holiday comes at a critical time, as the country has suffered economically, socially, and physically from a difficult and trying Year of the Tiger. In the week leading up to last weekend’s festivities, China reported 13,000 new deaths associated with the coronavirus. Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Center shows a cumulative total of just over 18,590. The true number since the reopening and rapid s...
What You Need to Know Today: The hot, dry weather forecast continues to drive strength in grain futures with corn and soybeans hitting another day of strong gains. Monday’s Crop Progress and Conditions data were in line with market expectations and showed relatively few concerns for the...
Yesterday we wrote about the Q1 GDP numbers and the June employment reports in an article entitled Real GDP for Q1 Relying on AI Buildout, Held Back by Consumer Spending. That article mentioned that consumer spending had become a drag on GDP. Nonetheless, real GDP in Q1 was revised upward to 2...
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Bangladesh is reported to have finalized the purchase of 270,000 MT of wheat, including 220,000 MT of U.S. wheat. The U.S. wheat is priced at $322/MT, with an additional 50,000 MT of wheat at $297.90/MT through an international te...
From WPI Consulting
Weighing in on strategic realignment
WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.