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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Katelew who wrote (61552)	4/24/2008 4:17:24 PM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 543000

Fascinating post, Kate. Thanks very much. I thought Bob's rice post was accurate, At least in general. I've been posting much the same from the several sources I read. But the specifics of it interested me. And I wanted to read those at the source. And, I'm more than a little skeptical of internet text without source attribution. Been burned by that in the past. So I think it's more than the perpetual academic in me. I've also been reading the stuff on the commodity markets. Read Jim Rogers book when it came out but didn't take the plunge because I couldn't find any investment tools that worked for me. As commodity ETFs and ETNs began to appear, the commodity boom skyrocketed. So that didn't seem the time to invest. I'm looking to put a small portion of our portfolio in commodities as a diversification play. But haven't found the right time to start easing my way in. If you've got any insights into what sort of signals to look for, I would love an advice you might have.

To: Katelew who wrote (61552)	4/24/2008 6:36:14 PM
From: Bearcatbob	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 543000

Kate, There is a market commentator named Don Coxe. He is a Canadian living in Chicago and is associtaed with BMO Nesbitt Burns. Dons forte is big long term trends. He has been on the commodity boom for years. He has a conference call every Friday in which he updates his views. He also publishes a monthly publication called Basic Points. Don has been on the possibility of a food crisis for the last few months. His position has been based on declining stocks of grain. Basically, the levels of storage of many grains is minimal and we are one bad harvest away from disaster. I am sure speculators are playing a role in current pricing - but the heart of the problem is in low supply. The issue of supply and demand is very difficult on this board. I engage Steve on it constantly and no one else shows any interest. High prices are dogma to the left as the result of speculators/hording/evil oil companies - and no facts will ever change the opinion. Kate, things are not always the result of a conspiracy. They are more likely the result of bad policy. In this case the bad policy is bio fuels - which is a bipartisan disaster for the world. In addition to biofuels we have millions in the third world moving up the economic ladder - a constant point of Coxe. These people are changing the supply and demand balance. So - you can blame speculators - or you can recognize the changing demographics of the world. I urge you not to jump on the typical leftist conspiracy/speculator band wagon of talking points without facts. I urge you to consider a level of analysis beyond the convenient. Bob

To: Katelew who wrote (61552)	4/25/2008 10:09:07 AM
From: Suma	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 543000

Katelew rant more often. I think that I heard about one million persons will die because of the food crisis. I don't remember percentages but for items such as eggs,bread, bananas and milk the price has risen substantially.. almost a fifty per cent on some items. Now its rice.. According to where I was listening the idea of corn for fuel for automobiles started the whole thing. You have a different take.. commodity traders and I tend to agree with you. However, this corn idea is as corny as it gets...