Thursday, Oct 18, 2007
Food inflation on its way
Market Oracle: USDA Drops an Agricultural Bombshell!
"Sean Brodrick writes: The USDA dropped a bombshell last week — reporting that U.S. wheat stockpiles may fall to the lowest level in 59 years! As disturbing as that is, it is 100% bullish for grain prices, especially given soaring worldwide demand for agricultural products."
"Global stockpiles have already fallen to 26-year lows. World stocks of grain — that is, the food held in reserve for times of emergency — are now sufficient for just over 50 days. This is already lighting a fire under prices on your grocer's shelves. But if you think you've seen high prices, just wait … you ain't seen nothin' yet."
Posted by sold 2 rent 1 @ 02:22 PM (1013 views) Add Comment
7 Comments
- If you do not have an admin password leave the password field blank.
- If you would like to request a password allowing you to add comments and blog news articles without needing each one approved manually, send an e-mail to the webmaster.
- Your email address is required so we can verify that the comment is genuine. It will not be posted anywhere on the site, will be stored confidentially by us and never given out to any third party.
- Please note that any viewpoints published here as comments are user's views and not the views of HousePriceCrash.co.uk.
- Please adhere to the Guidelines
1. sold 2 rent 1 said...
Expect for the emerging economies where inflation (wage and price) has already taken off, a 1970s scenario of continued runaway inflation. Remember these economies are low in debt, high in savings, and about to enter their own k-wave "summer" season. Only after their inflation has peaked and IRs start to come down will their economies move from investment-led to consumer-led. The forthcoming emerging economies stocks crash will signal the k-wave "summer" has started for them.
As for us in the west, these food price rises will act as a tax as there will be no wage rises to compensate (no wage-price spiral).
The west's proportion of the world's wealth will fall off a cliff over the next 10 years. Our "k-winter" has only just begun to bite.
2. japanese uncle said...
Penalizing the poor by raising basic food prices while rducing the prices of luxurious goods such as 50 inch LCD TV to please the rich. What a sick society!
Have been away in the country of silly artificial smiles ie Japan for a week+ , to find the same trend in the country. Basic food prices are on an increase squeezing the poor (many Japanese workers are earning no more than 10,000 pounds a year now!) while 600 pounds-a-pair-shoes are advertised in not so exclusive media. The poor is getting poorer and the rich, richer, quickly. Tokyo is certainly ultra-convenient and food (including western food) is tastier there generally. But walking on the pavement in Tokyo is a challenge, as you must be alerted all the time to avoid collision with other pedestrians that are rushing without regard to others. So whenever I come back to the UK, I feel home and find myself much more relaxed. Anyway I came across an interesting news while in Tokyo, that Japan's "mini housing bubble (for the couple of years)" recently came to a standstill as the prices came closer to the 5x annual income multiple level. The repentant population that still keep fresh memory of the misery of collapsing bubble, cannot easily be lured into another bubble, which is reassuring in terms of the solidness of the Japanese economy.
Incidentally I did not know that Ming Campbell was backstabbed by Chris Huhne, while I was away, (exactly as I predicted months ago). Now given the successful two-stage coup, (first Charles Kennedy, the second phase for Campbell), Lib Dem is a fully fledged instrument of the shameless international financiers, with Huhne (used to be an executive of the Economist) and Cable (RIIA and Shell). What a 'people's party', indeed!!. Now the British working population has virtually no representation in the parliament. Congratulations!
3. cyril said...
@JU - if you predicted Ming's demise accurately, do you have any good predictions about Gordon Brown to cheer us up?
Incidentally, hardly any of the British working population has a proper job, let alone representation in parliament.
4. japanese uncle said...
cyril:
Everything is contingent as every aspect of socio-economic/political development cannot be fully dictatcontrolled. The real masters of GB or any potential PM whether NuLabor or Tories indeed, are financiers in the City who do interfere with the course of events as seen in the recent coup within the Libdem (which had to be done to pave the way towards the future military action against Iran), but within obvious limits, beyond which they tend to take sides with the winning horse. In view of GB's recent wobbling in terms of the timing of general election, he must be seen as not so confident/reliable PM, and he certainly is no material for the head of state. Recent media campaign for George Osbourne suggests this nice-looking young elite who changed his given name Gideon when he was 12, could well replace Sweet Cameron, and may well be the next PM at the poll, by which time consequence of the futility of GB's economic policy (albeit imposed by force from his masters) will be fully known and most bitterly appreciated by the public. GB is not an ambitious man, so he will stay contented as PM for the rest of his tenure, without any hope to carry on later than that. Very mediocre development indeed.
5. Lierbag said...
The British electorate are idiotic. And by that, I don't mean the British people, per se, but strictly 'the electorate'. How else can you explain competition between disparate party supporters to get 'their side' into office, at all costs, when in fact we have a situation in the UK where policy is determined by multinational corporations, and the CBI, happy to feed behind the scenes whilst an illusion of democratic and representative government keeps the peasants pacified? Japanese uncle is spot on. There is no fundamental difference between party policies - and that's because they have no real say in formulating them. Political parties are no more than an acceptable shopfront, whose principal task is to convince us that we obtain greater benefits from being 'customers' than 'citizens'. Labour/Tory - whatever you choose, you're going to inherit and be forced to live under exactly the same set of circumstances.
6. su said...
It's a pity people can't invest in wheat as easily as they can invest in gold.
Hang on, I've just had a thought. Years ago in Egypt they had tonnes of grain which the government bought and stored, then when the shortages occurred people were forced to sell their land to the government to buy grain.
7. planning4acrash said...
You can buy stocks in companies who will benefit from higher wheat prices and I would have thought that you could buy futures and derivitives that bet on wheat prices.