Category Archives: Commodities

Ag Prices Catch-up to Farm Values

Posted on January 31, 2011 by macromon

Here’s an interesting chart showing cropland values versus the CRB foodstuffs index.  Note how farm values were caught up in the 2004-08 real estate bubble,  increasing 58 percent while foodstuffs as measured by the CRB were up only 15 percent.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Food Prices | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A Major Factor Driving Political Instability

Posted on January 28, 2011 by macromon

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;  Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world – W.B.  Yeats Here’s a report from India’s NDTV on the “hyperinflation” in food prices in some countries, which already is and could further destabilize regimes … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Swan Watch, Commodities, Currency, Economics, Food Prices, Video | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Bulls Eat, Bears Eat, and Pigs Go Limit Up!

Posted on January 27, 2011 by macromon

The hits just keep on coming in the foods.  Futures Magazine reports, Hogs: April futures rallied limit-up on Wednesday. Traders are noting South Korean buyers will cram orders in quickly to get product in under the 60,000 tonne no-tariff limit … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Commodities, Geopolitical | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Natural Gas, The “Widow Maker”

Posted on January 25, 2011 by macromon

Check out the long-term chart of natural gas from Managed Futures Today and you can see why they call nattie the “widow maker.”    Long periods without a trend will grind your capital into hamburger and drive you to drink.    … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Confessions of a Rare Earth Day Trader – FP

Posted on January 23, 2011 by macromon

Interesting piece in Foreign Policy titled,  I Was a Rare Earths Day Trader.   More interesting, however, is the subtitle, How a naval confrontation in the South China Sea created a global investment bubble — and cost me half my life … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Rare Earth Elements | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Monetarism Redefined: Crude, Fine Wine & Gold

Posted on January 20, 2011 by macromon

“Inflation is Always and Everywhere a Monetary Phenomenon” – Milton Freidman Monetarism as a theory, which states that the variation in the money supply has major influences on national output in the short run and the price level over longer … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Swan Watch, Bonds, BRICs, Budget Deficit, Charts, China, Commodities, Credit, Crude Oil, Currency, Economics, Monetary Policy | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Specs Fuel “Bizarro” World of Live Cattle Futures

Posted on January 19, 2011 by macromon

After reaching a high of $112.375 – the highest for a closest-to-expiration contract since CME launched cattle futures in 1964 – February live cattle futures fell today to the equivalent of $108.80 per hundred points. The price hit a previous … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Monetary Policy, Policy, Politics | Tagged , | 4 Comments

S&P500 Breaks Hitting Streak, Jimmy Rollins Safe…

Posted on January 19, 2011 by macromon

The S&P500 broke its streak of 37 consecutive days without a one percent correction, just barely, however, falling 1.01 percent.  Jimmy Rollins can sleep easier tonight.  The NASDAQ was down 1.46 percent. So what’s next?  If history is indicative of … Continue reading →

Posted in Charts, Commodities, Equities | Tagged | 1 Comment

Nonlinear Thinking: The Future of Ag?

Posted on January 18, 2011 by macromon

As food prices spike and the Malthusian noise grows louder let’s take a look at what the “victory garden” of the future may look like.   Indoor Ag and hydroponics are already huge in the the production of the number one … Continue reading →

Posted in Clean Tech, Commodities, Equities, General Interest, Nonlinear Thinking, Technology | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Shanghai Breaks 200-day, Commodites Next to Roll?

Posted on January 17, 2011 by macromon

During the 1990’s when the emerging markets were still emerging a friend of ours wrote a research report on pre-restructured busted Russian debt titled, No Rush to Buy, No Russians Buying.  The point was the Russians knew the prospects for … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Swan Watch, Bonds, BRICs, Budget Deficit, China, Commodities, Crude Oil, Currency, Economics, Geopolitical, Monetary Policy | Tagged , , | 3 Comments