Rollins Confirmation Hearing
As Gary Blumenthal reported yesterday, the Senate Agriculture Committee held a confirmation hearing on the nomination of Brooke Rollins to be Secretary of USDA. As Gary noted, she “rolled” through the hearings “poised, confident, charming” and had done the groundwork as...
Rollins Rolled; Cluelessness at the Top
Rollins Rolled Poised, confident, charming - USDA Secretary-Designate Brooke Rollins hit the trifecta today at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee. She mostly just needed to show that she supported U.S. agriculture. After all, Donald Trump won over 98 percent of the...
Transatlantic Tariffication; Biofuel Battles
Transatlantic Tariffication President Trump’s bromance with big tech billionaires has refocused his attention on Europe. The large penalties and regulatory hurdles being imposed by Brussels on America’s ANTMAMA (Apple, Nvidia, Tesla, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon) are being fram...
Day One Trump Executive Orders
Shortly after his swearing-in as the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump signed a slew of Executive Orders (EO) putting the wheels in motion for his policy agenda. EOs are signed, written, and published directives from the President regarding the operations of the federal governme...
Tariffs Hurt Ag, Help Oil?; Billionaire Farm Boy; Ignoring the Labels
Tariffs Hurt Ag, Help Oil? The President, aka “Tariff Man” pronounced at his inauguration that, “we will tariff and tax foreign countries.” However, the tariffs did not come on day one like some other policy changes. The warning is that, “tariffs delayed are not ta...
Martin Luther King Holiday
Please note that Monday, 20 January is a U.S. federal holiday in honor of the remarkable achievements of Martin Luther King, Jr. As a result, both the markets and World Perspectives, Inc. are closed that day. The next Ag Perspectives report will be published on Tuesday, 21 January. ...
Transitioning to Trump at USDA and in Congress
Monday is the Presidential Inaugural. This week has seen several Senate confirmation hearings on cabinet appointees. Both the Republicans and Democrats, Trump transition team, and Congress are prepping for the new Administration which will show up to work on Tuesday morning. &...
Political Sillies
No Introspection: Joe Biden’s farewell address appears to have been written by a 25-year-old at the socialist leaning People’s Policy Project. He claims historic success but warns the country will become an oligarchic dystopia. He warned about a “dangerous concentration of power” amidst “very f...
Livestock Roundup: Food Inflation Driven by Proteins
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for December yesterday. For the month, the CPI was up 0.4 percent, while year-over-year it was up 2.9 percent. The core CPI – excluding energy and food – was up 3.2 percent, well above the Fed’s 2 percent target...
Squeezing Russian Wheat; Save the Rats; Rollins Delayed
Squeezing Russia with WheatEurope is afraid that Donald Trump is ready to capitulate to Vladimir Putin next week when he becomes president. But Trump has appointed a fair number of geopolitical hawks to his team. He may see the war as senseless, but he doesn’t want to be perceived as a loser. R...
Produce Price Inflation Mixed Signals
Producer price inflation (PPI) ended 2024 up 0.2 percent in December. That is a modest gain and was below pre-report expectations. Nonetheless, the PPI was 3.3 higher than a year ago, and substantially higher than the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target. That stickiness trend will keep inflation...
Tariff Adjustment/Musk; Cynical Biden Trade Goals; Biofuel Proposal Disappoints
Tariff Adjustment /MuskRecognizing the inflation threat of sudden and large import tariffs, Donald Trump’s economic team: Scott Bessent (Treasury), Kevin Hassett (National Economic Council), and Stephen Miran (Council of Economic Advisers) are reportedly working on a plan of more gradual 2-5 pe...
Rollins Confirmation Hearing
As Gary Blumenthal reported yesterday, the Senate Agriculture Committee held a confirmation hearing on the nomination of Brooke Rollins to be Secretary of USDA. As Gary noted, she “rolled” through the hearings “poised, confident, charming” and had done the groundwork as...
Rollins Rolled; Cluelessness at the Top
Rollins Rolled Poised, confident, charming - USDA Secretary-Designate Brooke Rollins hit the trifecta today at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee. She mostly just needed to show that she supported U.S. agriculture. After all, Donald Trump won over 98 percent of the...
Transatlantic Tariffication; Biofuel Battles
Transatlantic Tariffication President Trump’s bromance with big tech billionaires has refocused his attention on Europe. The large penalties and regulatory hurdles being imposed by Brussels on America’s ANTMAMA (Apple, Nvidia, Tesla, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon) are being fram...
Day One Trump Executive Orders
Shortly after his swearing-in as the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump signed a slew of Executive Orders (EO) putting the wheels in motion for his policy agenda. EOs are signed, written, and published directives from the President regarding the operations of the federal governme...
Tariffs Hurt Ag, Help Oil?; Billionaire Farm Boy; Ignoring the Labels
Tariffs Hurt Ag, Help Oil? The President, aka “Tariff Man” pronounced at his inauguration that, “we will tariff and tax foreign countries.” However, the tariffs did not come on day one like some other policy changes. The warning is that, “tariffs delayed are not ta...
Martin Luther King Holiday
Please note that Monday, 20 January is a U.S. federal holiday in honor of the remarkable achievements of Martin Luther King, Jr. As a result, both the markets and World Perspectives, Inc. are closed that day. The next Ag Perspectives report will be published on Tuesday, 21 January. ...
Transitioning to Trump at USDA and in Congress
Monday is the Presidential Inaugural. This week has seen several Senate confirmation hearings on cabinet appointees. Both the Republicans and Democrats, Trump transition team, and Congress are prepping for the new Administration which will show up to work on Tuesday morning. &...
Political Sillies
No Introspection: Joe Biden’s farewell address appears to have been written by a 25-year-old at the socialist leaning People’s Policy Project. He claims historic success but warns the country will become an oligarchic dystopia. He warned about a “dangerous concentration of power” amidst “very f...
Livestock Roundup: Food Inflation Driven by Proteins
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for December yesterday. For the month, the CPI was up 0.4 percent, while year-over-year it was up 2.9 percent. The core CPI – excluding energy and food – was up 3.2 percent, well above the Fed’s 2 percent target...
Squeezing Russian Wheat; Save the Rats; Rollins Delayed
Squeezing Russia with WheatEurope is afraid that Donald Trump is ready to capitulate to Vladimir Putin next week when he becomes president. But Trump has appointed a fair number of geopolitical hawks to his team. He may see the war as senseless, but he doesn’t want to be perceived as a loser. R...
Produce Price Inflation Mixed Signals
Producer price inflation (PPI) ended 2024 up 0.2 percent in December. That is a modest gain and was below pre-report expectations. Nonetheless, the PPI was 3.3 higher than a year ago, and substantially higher than the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target. That stickiness trend will keep inflation...
Tariff Adjustment/Musk; Cynical Biden Trade Goals; Biofuel Proposal Disappoints
Tariff Adjustment /MuskRecognizing the inflation threat of sudden and large import tariffs, Donald Trump’s economic team: Scott Bessent (Treasury), Kevin Hassett (National Economic Council), and Stephen Miran (Council of Economic Advisers) are reportedly working on a plan of more gradual 2-5 pe...