In this period of cataclysmic moves in the world’s commodity markets, it’s easy to forget about the humble hard work that goes into building the real-world markets that prairie farmers actually sell their grains in. I just got back from a news event at the cancer centre at Winnipeg’s St. Boniface Hospital. A big human […] Read more
Ed White
Stories by Ed White
Tickling our hopes
For two days now the dominant Chicago crop futures markets have been tickling our hopes. Friday and today prices started moving higher soon after the open and had nice runs higher. On Friday corn stumbled badly and ended up below the open, and soybeans was dragged back most of the way it had gained, but […] Read more
Race to the bottom
There are three races to the bottom going on right now, two of which are really bad for crop prices. One could be good, as long as Canadian farmers don’t get caught up in it. One is the cataclysmic collapse in stock market prices. That’s sucking confidence out of the world’s economies, investors, consumers. It’s […] Read more
Buckaroo bonanza
October 23, 2008: 3:15 p.m. The Canadian dollar has fallen beneath 80 cents US in the past couple of days. About a year ago it was hitting $1.10. Hallelujah!!!!! Without that major slump, prairie farmers would be making a lot less money. I was just talking to a hog marketing manager and he estimated that […] Read more
Ring, ring. Anyone there?
Recently I’ve been working on a series looking at the question of whether the idea of the long term commodities bull market is still valid in light of the present market meltdown. I’ve noticed a small scale phenomenon that I don’t have evidence enough to support in any sort of scientific way, but that seems […] Read more
Farmers must tighten conditions of grain sales
Farmers need to be extra careful with grain sales because of the credit crunch. Good intentions from a buyer aren’t a substitute for money in the pocket. “You don’t want to ship it, get 10 percent up front and hear, ‘we’ll get the rest to you after Christmas sometime,’ ” said Jeff Nielson, president of […] Read more
Brazilian soy crop likely to shrink
Brazilian farmers are getting caught in the worldwide cash crunch at the worst possible time. It’s spring there and farmers need maximum access to operating lines of credit and fertilizer loans. But the financial crisis means that credit is either not available, or at too high an interest rate for many. Crop production forecasters are […] Read more
Options still considered useful marketing tool
Anyone trying to buy an option to hedge their crop’s exposure is probably feeling vexed by volatility. But brokers say more sophisticated trading strategies still allow farmers to use options and not spend a fortune. “Option plays have certainly changed because premiums are massively inflated compared to what we’re used to,” said Union Securities broker […] Read more
Guru sticks with commodities
Jim Rogers has been a prominent investor since the time he and George Soros operated the Quantum Fund, one of the world’s first hedge funds. He earned enough money to retire at the age of 37 and travel the world, ignoring the world’s markets for a few years. However, he learned enough from his time […] Read more
Spring credit crunch possible
Most farmers probably assume the credit crunch on Wall Street won’t squeeze their operating lines of credit, fertilizer loans and other farm credit sources. That’s a questionable assumption, agricultural economists say. It may not matter if a farm is financially solid if its credit provider has its credit cut. “They may not have it,” said […] Read more
