Soybean prices are at an all-time high as crops wilt under a blanket of hot, dry weather.
Soybeans for August delivery gained 2.7 percent Wednesday to end at $16.835 per bushel, which was a record high. Corn and wheat prices also rose.
The hot, dry weather is causing corn and soybean conditions to erode. Forecasts don't call for significant rainfall at least through the end of the month.
Wheat prices are at levels not seen since 2008. Traders are questioning how much of the crop in Russia and the Black Sea region has been hurt by adverse weather.
The prospect of smaller harvests is driving up prices.
In other trading, oil, gasoline and copper are higher. Gold and silver are lower.
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corn/bean production = scarcity for ethanol makers = soon to be high natural gas markets = sector stock rises. at least a 3 year shortage issue. Play accordingly.
This is the first sign of inflation trying to take hold as the herd chase prices higher, on the threat of a shortage 'sometime in the future'. All that printed money has to go somewhere as countless people have been predicting.
Still there is money to be made here as next week, when wheat tops $1000, will be a good time to go short. Just look at previous occasions when wheat did a silly surge in a few weeks, it does not stay above $1000 indefinitely.
Really?? So we would be at these prices if the entire grain complex were not at risk of getting plowed back into the ground? How this has become a political conversation is amazing. This is becoming a world-wide issue of prices having to rise enough to limit demand to the point of coming in line with available stocks.
Three weeks ago all of the conversation was about huge acreage gains, crops getting in the ground early, and great conditions expected to produce good yiels. We were on the road to recovery on the crazy high prices we have seen for much of the last 5 years and all of the last two years. I am sure that many of us on the buy side are finding ourselves short for 2013 and adjusting expectations dramatically. How much of this is fear and hype in the markets is where our focus should be right now.
By the way, the dollar is actually up 11% versus where it was this time last year. I'm not thinking that Romney or Obama really come into this conversation.
Obama is in every conversation. This crop year is a disaster, trickle down & trickle up. Ethanol mfr.s are calling individual farmers for grain still on the farm. This crop will harvest recort early, and be used asap. Futures pricing will be record high, etc. etc. Grains for energy will be scarce, wouldn't be surprised to see some ethanal mfr. just close. Play the other side oil/NG.
This country is not run like the majority of the people think. It is not run by Obama
I am becoming more and more convinced that you are correct. Obama is merely a puppet being controlled by a group of global central bankers. Bernanke belongs to that group as well. Romney is also part of the "machine". The election process is nothing more than a charade.
Keep in mind that rising commodity prices have nothing to do with inflation no, not at all! How convenient for the fed reserve to have a drought to cover up the consequences of their money printing.