General Comments It was more of the same for commodity and financial markets today as investor/speculators again scrambled to liquidate long positions. Stocks also worked lower but wound up closing mixed. A late recovery pushed the Dow into the green, and it finished with a 19-point gain. Asian stocks were weak and European stocks were mixed. Worries about Spain's ability to deal with its debt pressured the euro lower versus the dollar.Crude oil and grains led most commodities lower again. The NYMEX spot crude oil contract fell $2.63 to $102.78 for the biggest two-day drop since mid-December. Possible release of oil reserves spurred profit taking. One exception to commodities' down day was NY copper, which showed a small gain.For grains...
Key Takeaways: President Trump announced $8 billion in additional agricultural assistance through the Harvest Fuel Relief Program, as USDA projects farm fuel and oil expenses will increase 28.8 percent in 2026. The package follows $12 billion in earlier relief, while government farm payments w...
Key Takeaways: A student group from the University of Chicago is protesting to bring back onion futures trading. Trading in onion futures was banned in 1958 following a spectacular bout of market manipulation that resulted in a corner of the physical market. The ban on onion futures led t...
Beef packer margins deteriorated to $141/head last week, down $55 from the prior week as fed cattle prices strengthened while the Choice cutout remained nearly unchanged. The cutout held near $373/cwt while fed cattle prices climbed $4/cwt to $224/cwt, narrowing processor profits. Despite the d...
From WPI Consulting
Infrastructure investment due diligence
On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.