The December corn contract rose 2.4 percent today and WTI Crude was up 1.7 percent. The corn price is rising in the middle of otherwise bearish indicators such as a potentially fruitful harvest and the lack of any recent strong demand indicators such as purchases by China. Apparently, outside money is very bullish energy and the corn market provides a secondary approach to investing in it. The correlation between the two is positive, with an R-squared of .729506 over the past 35 years. However, the relationship oddly becomes weaker when looking from 2007 forward, the year that the ethanol mandate was significantly increased. The value of ethanol has also risen this year as vaccination rates rose along with road traffic. Analysts expe...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
From WPI Consulting
Weighing in on strategic realignment
WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.