There has been a spate of favorable economic news. Orders for durable goods were up 9.9 percent in July, mostly on orders for new aircraft. This was the biggest increase since July 2020. Corporate profits rose 1.7 percent in the Q2 over Q1 and are up 8.0 percent from a year ago. GDP in Q2 was revised upward to 3 percent versus the previous estimate of 2.8 percent. Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell 2,000 to 231,000 last week. Finally, a cut in the federal funds rate is all but guaranteed at the next meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in mid-September. However, for many these data points don’t register as positive due to all the noise from the 2024 election. Vice President Harris has promised a prohibition...
There was heavy volume exiting soybeans, which dragged down the broader market today. The lack of a specific Chinese buying commitment for soybeans undermined speculators who had placed bets on state-directed trade. But even the Chinese do not totally ignore market fundamentals. They may still...
On Tuesday, 12 May, WPI reported on an Executive Order being prepared by the Trump Administration to suspend tariff rate quotas (TRQs) on beef from all exporters for 200 days as a means of addressing high beef prices in the United States. After considerable pushback from cattle producer groups,...
WPI has officially launched Transportation Perspectives as a standalone weekly report separate from our Ag Perspectives articles and analysis. Current Ag Perspectives subscribers will have gratis access to the report through 16 April 2026. Please email us or subscribe online after this date to...
From WPI Consulting
Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming
WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.