Category Archives: Food Prices

Stratfor: Euro Fracture

Posted on October 5, 2012 by

As the European Union splinters, Stratfor’s Reva Bhalla examines the limits of Continental integration being sought by European policymakers. For more analysis, visit: http://www.Stratfor.com (click here if video is not observable)

Posted in Euro, Food Prices, Germany, Sovereign Debt | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Dude, Where Is Food and Crude?

Posted on May 28, 2012 by

Now these are the tax cuts we like!   Especially because the big flop in food prices directly benefits the poor (x/ farmers) more than anyone else. Thus far, these are relative price shifts and and not a sign of general … Continue reading →

Posted in Crude Oil, Food Prices, Monetary Policy | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Food Fight

Posted on July 4, 2011 by

Check out the BLS Foodstuffs sub-index which is now right at key support.  The better than expected USDA report hammered the grains last week and traders now have to decide either to stay with the Ag trade or dump their … Continue reading →

Posted in Charts, Commodities, Food Prices | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Jimmy (the Trader) Crack(s) Corn and Says Adios to QE2

Posted on June 30, 2011 by

Wow!  December Corn futures finally opens with a 13.4 percent loss from Wednesday’s high to the opening low.  Wheat has also been hammered. The WSJ reports, As recently as June 9, USDA officials had guessed that excessive rain and widespread … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Food Prices | Tagged , | Leave a comment

10 Questions for Chairman Bernanke

Posted on April 26, 2011 by

If we were attending the Fed’s historic press conference tomorrow,  here are the ten questions we would ask Chairman Bernanke: 1)  Do you think the new monetary policy tool of the Federal Reserve of paying interest on reserves (IOR) is … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget Deficit, Commodities, Credit, Crude Oil, Currency, Food Prices, Gold, Monetary Policy, Policy | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Will Higher Prices Show Up in the CPI?

Posted on February 24, 2011 by

Great ‘toon from the Economist.  Maybe the bureaucrats can argue that the higher commodity price component of goods and services is only temporary and can be counted as a surcharge as not be be included in the inflation stats.  On … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Food Prices | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Sarkozy and G20 to Crackdown on Food Specs

Posted on February 10, 2011 by

The following is an excerpt from the recently released European Commission report on commodity derivatives   The two charts, from the St. Louis Fed,  illustrate the parabolic rise in Commodity Index-Funds  over the past 8 years and the huge increase … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Crude Oil, Food Prices, Policy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Peru’s Meltdown

Posted on February 7, 2011 by

A  good friend from the hedge fund community and one of the best economists to have ever worked in the financial markets, and who also happens to be from Peru sent over a piece on the Andean glacier melt from … Continue reading →

Posted in Clean Tech, Commodities, Economics, Food Prices, Geopolitical, Policy, Politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

How U.S. Income Groups Get Squeezed By Food Prices

Posted on February 2, 2011 by

Take a look at the chart we’ve constructed from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics 2009 Consumer Expenditure Survey.  It conveys a sense of how Egypt’s poverty combined with the sharp rise in food prices sparked the political revolt against … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Demographics, Food Prices | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Nonlinear Thinking: Egypt Needs Hydroponics

Posted on February 1, 2011 by

The world seems caught in a race between a dark age Malthusian struggle for resources and a technological revolution producing advances which will help resolve the conflict of the world’s growing population and diminishing resources. Both have collided and pushed … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Food Prices, Nonlinear Thinking | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments