World Perspectives
feed-grains

Corn Price Volatility and Inflation

Inflation is hitting agriculture hard. The cost of inputs like seed, fertilizer, and chemicals are rising much faster than core inflation. Because corn is more input intensive, this spring may see fewer acres planted to the crop than soybeans. While stocks fare poorly in inflationary periods, the rush of investment into commodities may not be a cure-all. The correlation of the price of corn to CPI changes is not great, which is why investment analysts advise capping investments in commodities at 3 percent of a portfolio. Duke University’s Campbell Harvey cautions that even gold is not a great hedge against inflation unless viewed over a very long period.  In 1974, general inflation jumped to 11.1 percent, and the price of corn r...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Limping Home After a Dreary Week

Friday involved relatively lower volume and modest price changes as new inputs remain limited. And it wasn’t really due to the lack of USDA reports due to the shutdown since they may not have involved anything market moving. Harvest is progressing, competitors have ample supplies, and buy...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.19/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Wheat closed at $5.1525/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.18/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Soymeal closed at $278.6/short ton, down $0.7...

Competing Manufacturing Data

According to S&P Global, the US manufacturing sector grew for the fourth consecutive month in September. The U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers' index recorded 52 points in September, down from 53 a month prior and indicating a weaker rate of expansion of the manufacturing sector. A rea...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Limping Home After a Dreary Week

Friday involved relatively lower volume and modest price changes as new inputs remain limited. And it wasn’t really due to the lack of USDA reports due to the shutdown since they may not have involved anything market moving. Harvest is progressing, competitors have ample supplies, and buy...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.19/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Wheat closed at $5.1525/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.18/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Soymeal closed at $278.6/short ton, down $0.7...

Competing Manufacturing Data

According to S&P Global, the US manufacturing sector grew for the fourth consecutive month in September. The U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers' index recorded 52 points in September, down from 53 a month prior and indicating a weaker rate of expansion of the manufacturing sector. A rea...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Recent Market Volatility Increases Futures Mispricing

Following the recent shocks to the grain markets – the Grain Stocks report data and news that soybeans will be on the negotiating table when Presidents Trump and Xi meet next – many are wondering what happens next as far as commodity pricing goes. WPI certainly doesn’t have a...

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From WPI Consulting

Communicating importance of value-added products

Facing increasing pressure to quantify the value of export promotion efforts to investors, a U.S. industry organization retained WPI to develop a quantitative model that better communicated the importance of exports. The resulting model concluded that value-added meat exports contributed $0.45 cents per bushel to the price of corn, increasing support for that sector’s financial support of WPI’s client. In addition to serving the red meat industry with this type of analysis, WPI has generated similar deliverables for the U.S. soybean and poultry/egg industries.

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