Key Market Developments Macros & Energy: Outside markets continue to trade in a tug-of-war between escalation and de-escalation — and crude oil is right at the center of it. Overnight, crude pulled back toward $87 as headlines pointed to a potential resumption of peace negotiat...
War Impacts May soybeans are now within a penny of their value two weeks ago, and May corn is back up to within half a percent of its price at that time. The S&P closed above 7,000 for the first time, and the Nasdaq hit a record high. The cost of gasoline is about 15 percent higher th...
Russian Grain Markets: 6-10 April 2026 During the week in review, the Russian grains market was volatile. Domestic sentiment remained bullish, supporting an upward trend; however, the export market in the south stayed bearish. Given Russia’s export-driven structure, weak export demand is...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.