Two recent economic reports have generated attention: the November balance of payments trade deficit and the December payroll report. There are tea leaves to be read for both. First, the trade deficit for all goods and services in November was down 2 percent, to $63.2 billion. The October deficit was revised up marginally to $64.5 billion from the initial report of $64.3 billion. The pre-report expectation was an increased deficit of $65 billion. Of course, as WPI frequently reminds, it is the total value of trade – imports plus exports – not the deficit or surplus, that shows the level of economic activity in the economy. In the GDP equation, imports are subtracted from exports not because they hurt domestic econo...
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...
Key Takeaways: The Middle East and North Africa's arid climate and limited water resources have created a structural dependence on imported wheat. Government wheat tenders in major importing countries serve as important benchmarks for global trade, providing insight into exporter competitivene...
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.