A month ago I asked commodities guru Jim Rogers if he was still convinced about commodities being inside a long term bull market. At the beginning of October his answer was a resounding yes. The present sell-off is just a short term liquidation that presents cheap prices for commodities that are going to get a […] Read more
Ed White
Stories by Ed White
October, cruelly
October has been the cruelest month, breeding brief hopes out of the dead land, mixing memory of July’s peak prices and the desire for more, stirring dashed hopes with cold rain. Well, it ain’t exactly what T.S. Eliot said about April, but October feels sorta that way. The month is ending still way far down […] Read more
Loonatic moves
Is the Canadian dollar worth 80 cents, 77 cents or 83 cents? That depends on which day of the past week you checked. Or part of the day, because the value of the loonie versus the U.S. dollar has plunged and leaped like a big, angry pike trying to get away from the hook. Today […] Read more
Campaign launched to sell durum at home
How dumb are Canadian consumers? “Half of Canadian consumers don’t realize that their bread and pasta comes from Canadian wheat,” said Canadian Wheat Board chief executive officer Ian White at the launch of a new, all-Canadian pasta. “That’s what our surveys tell us.” That may seem an astounding number to prairie farmers, who generally realize […] Read more
Dropping currency softens price plunge
As American farmers see their returns crashing to the ground, Canadians are seeing theirs drift down more gently. Crop and livestock prices in Canadian terms are floating to earth on a parachute provided by a plunging currency. “If it wasn’t for the Canadian dollar, my guess is that we would be languishing a good $50, […] Read more
Feed wheat contract dies
Feed wheat futures are dead at Winnipeg’s commodity exchange. Long live barley. That’s the attitude of ICE Futures Canada, which is planning to promote the western barley futures contract as a good hedging mechanism for feed wheat buyers and sellers. The feed wheat futures contract’s last positions were closed out last spring and its existence […] Read more
Cereal grain returns to diets
A few years ago, the Atkins diet convinced many consumers that cereal grains were the fast train to fat land. Grain marketers noticed a slowdown in demand for their products, while meat sellers noticed stronger demand. But that tide appears to have turned, said a nutritionist working with the Canadian Wheat Board to boost sales. […] Read more
Past shows possible long stretch of gloom
Western Producer reporter Ed White is talking to the world’s top market analysts and bringing a wide range of philosophies and insights into the current financial crisis. In this series, the analysts discuss what happened to predictions about the world being in a long-term bull market for commodities and whether the financial crisis changes the […] Read more
Whoosh!
Well, I guess this morning’s action in the main commodity markets answers that question about whether we were going to see a delayed reaction rally in the commodity markets which closed before yesterday’s stupendous stock markets rally. Everything leapt up by a big gap this morning when the markets opened and continued on upwards. Huge […] Read more
Unjoined at the hip
What an amazing rally in the Dow this afternoon! Rocket to the moon anyone? Up 10 percent? Too bad no one mentioned to the commodities market that equities were about to take off for the stratosphere. Ag commodities were left behind in the choking smoke, with soybeans, wheat and oats all down on the day, […] Read more
