Several current factors may make a merger of the SEC and CFTC seem conceptually more appealing that it used to be. However, there are still great differences between the markets they respectively oversee.One idea that seems to have acquired some sort of political immortality is that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which oversee the regulation of U.S. securities markets and that of U.S. derivative markets, respectively, should be merged into a single agency that would supervise both. This idea was given a new life most recently on 20 April when the Volcker Alliance, a think tank founded by former Treasury Secretary Paul Volker to promote more effective government, released a r...
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
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.