There has been a spate of favorable economic news. Orders for durable goods were up 9.9 percent in July, mostly on orders for new aircraft. This was the biggest increase since July 2020. Corporate profits rose 1.7 percent in the Q2 over Q1 and are up 8.0 percent from a year ago. GDP in Q2 was revised upward to 3 percent versus the previous estimate of 2.8 percent. Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell 2,000 to 231,000 last week. Finally, a cut in the federal funds rate is all but guaranteed at the next meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in mid-September. However, for many these data points don’t register as positive due to all the noise from the 2024 election. Vice President Harris has promised a prohibition...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
The big news in the cattle markets yesterday was Tyson Foods’ move to close two more beef plants. One of them, the Joslin, Illinois, plant was shuttered immediately after the announcement. The other, in Eagle Mountain, Utah, is a case-ready plant that does not slaughter cattle. Tyson also...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. In July, the CPI rose 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy, or the “core” infla...
From WPI Consulting
Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming
WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.