What could go right? The stock market and commodity futures both started the trading day glumly observing certain fundamentals:
U.S. core inflation in September at 6.6 percent had hit a four-decade high; CPI was at 8.2 percent. It is now sealed that next month the Fed will add another growth suppressing 0.75 percent to the federal funds rate. Even the President is now acknowledging that there could be a “mild” recession as the IMF downgrades the forecast for global economic growth. The dollar is so strong, the yen is at a 32-year low in comparison, further burdening U.S. exports. Not only do high interest rates risk causing a recession but the International Energy Agency warns that the planned OPEC+ output reduction...
The corn and soy complex closed higher, with the wheat market mixed, as winter wheat closed up but spring wheat and livestock ended lower. Part of the strength for corn and soybeans may have been a weather premium, as crop planting has started out fast but warm weather has been slow to develop...
Real GDP grew at a 2 percent annual rate in the first quarter of 2026, slightly below the consensus expectation of 2.3 percent but above the 0.5 percent growth in Q4 2025. The GDP number matches the average annualized pace of growth since the peak back in late 2007, right before the Financial P...
Reflect for a moment on what you eat. There is a lot of advice out there in the ether about what you should eat, but really, what do you currently eat and how much? The good people at the USDA have some data for you, to help you answer that question. USDA says that we eat quite a bit of meat. L...
