Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: JohnM who wrote (61711)	4/25/2008 1:33:56 PM
From: Katelew	Respond to of 543060

I found this today. Apparently there is some pushback building against the spec forces in the markets. Also some might be interested to know that rice is up 78% since the first of the year and spring wheat hit $24 a bushel in Feb., more that doubling in price in TWO months. In 2007 Potash company (POT), a stock I own, was able to get $176 a ton. Recently, the Chinese agreed to pay $576 a ton for 1 million tons for 2008. Food production didn't triple in one year, nor are the Chinese eating 3 times as much food. Agriculture related prices aren't production and demand driven anymore. If anything, world wide trends in production have been good for quite awhile. Farming had seen HUGE increases in productivity due to equipment and hybrid seed, for example. The costs per acre for farmer had been in LT slightly downward trends as it became less expensive for farmers to produce food, although the last years have seen a reversal of this trend, but only slightly. As for storage or inventory shortages, we'll see how valid this argument is. I was amused this morning. Wheat prices have fallen almost 25% this month.....traders have discovered that actually there's more wheat in storage than previously thought.....give me a break!! And going forward, in Kansas wheat growing conditions have never been better....perfect amount of snow and rainfall. I would expect bumper crops when spring wheat is harvested in June. Commodity trading curbs faulted Associated Press April 23, 2008 WASHINGTON - Federal regulators said yesterday that placing tougher restrictions on agricultural commodity trading will not alleviate high and volatile prices in those markets, and could make matters worse. Farmers, ranchers and grain processors met with regulators in Washington to discuss the causes behind turbulent markets and historically high prices for wheat, corn and other foodstuffs. Farmers and food producers argue speculation by Wall Street investors - not a supply-demand imbalance - is what's driving up prices and volatility, making it harder for commercial buyers and sellers of grain to use the exchanges as a tool for limiting the risks of price uncertainty. In the past year, prices for corn and cotton have ballooned roughly 50 percent and 65 percent, respectively, according to industry officials. "The market is broken, it's out of whack and someone needs to step in and give some relief to cotton producers," said Billy Dunavant, president of cotton producer Dunavant Enterprises. "For those who say everything is all right, I'm sorry, maybe I'm wasting my time, but there are problems, and it's incumbent on us to try and solve them," said Tom Buis of National Farmers Union. But commissioners from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission cautioned against blaming speculators, saying current market conditions can be explained by a weak dollar, small inventories owed to poor weather and higher transportation costs. The agency's chief economist John Fenton said trading by institutional investors has been relatively stable throughout the price gains seen in the past two years. In their opening comments to participants, the agency's four commissioners showed little enthusiasm for setting new restrictions on speculation to attempt to calm commodities trading. Cotton and corn industry representatives called for stricter oversight of the speculative positions hedge and pension funds can take on commodities Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun