Tag Archives: Food Prices

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

What’s Driving U.S. Inflation?

Posted on March 19, 2012 by

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the U.S. increased 2.9 percent in February before seasonal adjustment.  These BLS charts and table illustrate what is driving the increase. (click here is charts and table are not observable)

Posted in Economics, Inflation/Deflation | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Now for Some Good News…

Posted on December 14, 2011 by

Here’s a little piece of good macro news.  The CRB Foodstuffs sub-index — hogs, steers, lard, butter, soybean oil, cocoa, corn, Kansas City wheat, Minneapolis wheat, and sugar — is down 18 percent from its April high.  Good news for … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Global Trend Indicators

Posted on July 10, 2011 by

(click here if tables are not observable)

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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

Global Trend Indicators

Posted on July 4, 2011 by

(click here if tables are not observable)

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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

Have Policymakers Discovered the “Splendid Arbitrage”?

Posted on June 26, 2011 by

How ’bout a little summer Sunday humor (albeit a little nerdy) before getting back to the daily grind.   Last week saw a global coordinated response to shaft specs in crude oil as many, including us, think the rise in … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Crude Oil, General Interest, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Week in Review: Better Late Than Never

Posted on March 21, 2011 by

We’re a little late posting last week’s review.   It’s history after today’s rally so not much to write about.   Do note the weakness in Mexico, however.   Brazil, Korea, and the Shanghai showing relative strength due to expectations of manufacturing shift … Continue reading →

Posted in Week in Review | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Global Pain of Rising Food Prices

Posted on February 15, 2011 by

We found some excellent data from a March 2010 USDA report on cross-country food expenditures and to no surprise lower income countries are getting slammed by the recent price spike.  The table is fairly self-explanatory showing the proportion of expenditures … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Economics, Geopolitical, Policy, Politics | Tagged , , | 3 Comments