It’s far too early to say the bear market is dead. It is interesting, however, to watch how some of these commodity markets have exploded higher without any really disastrous supply-side news. A story in today’s Financial Times under the headline “Commodities beating global bonds and stocks in 2016” reports that the Bloomberg Commodity Index is up 11.1 percent for the year. This compares with Barclay’s Global Aggregate Bond Index, the U.S. S&P, and the FTSE All World Global Equities Index, which are up 6.4 percent, 4 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.This is a dramatic change from the commodity picture of the past few years. Crude oil that was going to drop to $15-20/barrel is trading right at $50 today. Soybean futures were headed...
What You Need to Know Today: The corn and soybean markets closed slightly higher in low-volume trade. The wheat market was mixed, with HRW continuing its downward trek on improved moisture. As expected, the bearish cattle on feed report drove down cattle prices and pulled hogs down with it. Mi...
Monday, 25 May is a U.S. holiday, and both the markets and our office will be closed. Please note that the next issue of Ag Perspectives will be published on Tuesday, 26 May. The WPI staff wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend...
USDA’s monthly cattle on feed report was released today. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity amounted to 11.6 million head, 102 percent of last year. Source: USDA, WPI Placements were up, but part of that is attributable to persistent drought c...
From WPI Consulting
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.