World Perspectives

Weaker Consumer Finances Darken Economic Outlook, Despite Interest Rate Cuts

The past two weeks have seen the typical influx of macroeconomic data releases, most of which helped prompt the Federal Reserve to issue its 50-bps interest rate cut on Wednesday. While the interest rate cut was initially viewed as a positive signal (lower interest rates generally increase economic activity), history suggests rate cuts can precede market corrections or recessions. This is highly dependent on other factor at play in the economy, which WPI attempts to examine here.  WPI looks at macroeconomics through three primary lenses: national-level factors, consumer income and finances, and consumer spending. The first, national-level factors, includes items such as stock market valuation, the Treasury yield curve, and the inflati...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.4875/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $5.9125/bushel, down $0.0725 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.6725/bushel, up $0.035 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $331.8/short ton, down $0...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Rebound for Corn, Beans on Iran News; Wheat Declines

New variables specifically in the agricultural markets were light today, but the Iran war news hit some markets like a tsunami. The war and Iran’s chokehold on global oil supplies have subjugated economies for nearly seven weeks with outsized petrol prices. Everything became distorted aro...

livestock

Cattle on Feed Report: Neutral

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 of capacity amounted to 11.6 million head, 99 percent of last year. The steer and steer calf inventory was down slightly from a year ago at 7.256 million head,...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.4875/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $5.9125/bushel, down $0.0725 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.6725/bushel, up $0.035 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $331.8/short ton, down $0...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Rebound for Corn, Beans on Iran News; Wheat Declines

New variables specifically in the agricultural markets were light today, but the Iran war news hit some markets like a tsunami. The war and Iran’s chokehold on global oil supplies have subjugated economies for nearly seven weeks with outsized petrol prices. Everything became distorted aro...

livestock

Cattle on Feed Report: Neutral

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 of capacity amounted to 11.6 million head, 99 percent of last year. The steer and steer calf inventory was down slightly from a year ago at 7.256 million head,...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: More Wheat Weather Premium, but Weakness Elsewhere

There was generally modest volume today, with the exception of wheat, which was also uniquely higher on the day. New highs for the calendar year were printed in HRW as the fledgling crop is about to have the double-whammy of freezing temperatures added to drought as the welcoming committee for...

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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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