AG MARKET UPDATE: FEBRUARY 17 – 24
Corn was up a lot this week for similar reasons as wheat, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine pushing commodities higher. The conditions have improved in South America, but the length of trouble still caused large amounts of damage to the crop that we still do not know the depth of. The USDA Ag Outlook Forum came out with 92 million acres for corn, with some acres going to soybeans along with a 181 yield. A 181 yield would be a record crop, but with the supply chain issues, fertilizer prices, and availability of chemicals, many factors could affect yield ...
The Leonard Lumber Report: It’s been an exciting week for futures
It has been an exciting week in futures as it traded each of the five sessions. There was continued volatility, but March closed virtually unchanged from a week ago. That's progress. We saw that the CME upped the limits, and we'll also see an article in the WSJ this week referencing the constant limit moves we have. Notoriety is good. At the same time, there has been a slow creep high in total open interest. It has been a while since the futures and cash markets were this close. However, we're not sure the futures market is that close to ...
Funding Food To Feed The World
How Financial Institutions and Insurance Companies Play an Essential Role in Feeding the World The cost of farming has grown over the years, which means financial institutions are amping up their reviewal process for loans and increasing insurance deductibles for protection to reduce their loss risk. What does this mean to supporting food production for the world? Well, as part of our "What It Takes To Feed The World" series, we are diving into critical agriculture sectors and bringing awareness to their roles in the food production cycle. Financial institutions and insurance companies are the starting point in the process ...
AG MARKET UPDATE: FEBRUARY 10 – 17
Corn made small gains on the week as grains did well across the board. The forecast for South America can’t seem to make up its mind switching back and forth on rain amounts. Argentina has consistently had rain in the forecasts, but what parts of the country and the amount has been inconsistent. Exports were better this week than last, but nothing crazy; potential conflict in Ukraine and further issues with the South American crop could see those numbers pick up soon. The markets are not open for President Day on Monday the 21st, so there is more time to ...
Leonard Lumber Report: This is a Supply-Side Industry
We tend to focus on fires, rail, a wall of wood, etc. Then one day a month, we look at housing starts. Today it is too easy to say that shipping issues are running prices up again. We hear daily from the trade that the company has too high of inventories on one day, and they don't have enough in less than 24 hours. That is a demand issue. The other feature on the demand side is that the late cars' fill-ins are not increasing inventories. Follow-through buying keeps the buy-side underbought. We saw this same dynamic last February. The ...
