| Pork producers have opportunities to lock-in profits
With feed prices high and headed higher, pork producers may continue to see losses at least through the first quarter of 2008. That's according to USDA's Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook, which the Agency released Friday. But a noted hog marketing expert says the futures market is providing opportunities for pork producers to avoid red ink next year.
The USDA report said for the first quarter of 2008, hog prices are expected to average between $38 and $40 dollars a hundredweight, more than 15% below a year ago. USDA estimated production costs in the low-to-mid $50's per hundredweight and also said most hog producers are likely to lose money in 2008. But University of Missouri livestock economist Glenn Grimes told Brownfield taking advantage of strength in lean hog futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) may help pork producers avoid that prediction.
Australian dollar stonger at noon
THE dollar was stronger at noon, rising above $US0.8700, as healthier share market performances outweighed expectations of another interest rate rise. The market is still divided on whether the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will act next month, even though annual core inflation is at its highest level in more than 16 years. At 12.00pm AEDT, the Australian dollar was trading at $US0.8721/26, up from yesterday's close of 0.8657/65. During the morning, the domestic currency traded between a low of $US0.8688 and a high of 0.8745. The Australian share market has climbed 2 per cent during the morning session, moving upwards with US equities, following an emergency American rate cut of three-quarters of a percentage point yesterday. Easy Forex senior dealer Francisco Solar said a recovery in the domestic share market, after this week's longest run of slides in 26 years, was a bigger driver of the Australian dollar than interest rate rise expectations.
Big miners drag stocks down
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was down 72 points to 6528, on a volume of 19,549 contracts. CMC Markets dealer Matt Wacher said lower base metal prices overnight are weighing on the local bourse. "Most of the sectors seem to be pretty flat. Energy and materials sectors are off," Mr Wacher said. "I guess the materials and energy sectors are off on the back of the commodity prices overnight. Oil prices and all the base metals took a bit of a beating and similarly with the gold price which was off quite substantially." Mr Wacher said positive retail sales data in the United States helped to buoy stocks on Wall Street."The US retail sales result was pretty strong so that's probably given a bit of impetus to the market as a whole over there. "It started much lower on the day and ended up around 40 points on the close...
Ace Ethanol LLC Selects Planalytics EnergyBuyer for Natural Gas ...
WAYNE, Pa., Jan. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Planalytics Inc. announced today that Ace Ethanol LLC has licensed the EnergyBuyer(SM) service to help the company monitor natural gas market prices and identify when it is a good time to buy or hedge its natural gas. "Planalytics' always accessible web-based tool and weekly e-mail newsletters will help Ace Ethanol stay on top of a volatile market and take advantage of good buying opportunities when they arise," said Paul Corby, Senior Vice President, Planalytics Energy. "We look forward to helping Ace successfully manage their natural gas costs, providing them with stable pricing and lower volatility." Planalytics EnergyBuyer continuously analyzes market conditions to provide clients with straightforward "buy" or "don't buy" guidance up to a year in advance.
Hedge funds scent a market turnaround amid turbulence
London: If hedge funds are, as is often claimed, the investment vanguard, their latest moves appear to be telling financial markets it is time to take a break from the trading patterns that have dominated since mid-2007. Investment banks have been poring over the latest data on hedge fund positioning from the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and concluded that a number of speculative bets have been changed. Societe Generale, for example, says long positions on 10-year government bonds have been closed. That is to say, hedge funds are not expecting demand for such bonds to increase and drive yields lower. .
Hip-Hop Rumors: Khia's Beef With Janet? 50 Cent's Baby...
Hip-Hop star Kanye West and Lil' Wayne are honorees in GQ's 12th Annual Men of the Year issue, which hits stands nationwide wide next week. The magazine named West, former President Bill Clinton and James Bond star Daniel Craig Men of the Year for their exceptional achievements in 2007. As a result, West, Clinton and Craig will each grace one of the three separate covers of the GQ 12th Annual Men of the Year issue. "What can we say about Kanye West? With his album Graduation, he called a home run shot and he delivered," Jason Gay, GQ articles editor told AllHipHop.com. "His victorious battle with 50 Cent gave a shot of adrenaline to an industry that badly needed a boost, and his collaborations with everyone from Daft Punk to T-Pain solidified his place as one of music's boldest innovators.
SEC to consider CBOE rule on trading rights
U.S. securities regulators plan to consider this week a Chicago Board Options Exchange rule aimed at eliminating trading rights held by certain members of futures exchange CME Group Inc. Settling the issue is critical for the largest U.S. options market to complete a year-long process of converting from a member-owned organization into a for-profit, shareholder company, which would pave the way for an initial public offering. CBOE has been in legal dispute over the trading rights issue with CME, which was formed last summer after Chicago Mercantile Holdings merged with Chicago Board of Trade's parent CBOT Holdings Inc. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to decide on Wednesday on whether to approve a proposed CBOE rule change that would eliminate eligible Chicago Board of Trade members from trading at the options exchange, according to a SEC meeting notice on its Web site late last week.
US Dollar to Remain Weak as Fed Prepares for another 50bp Cut on Jan ...
The volatility in the financial markets caused panic at the Federal Reserve, resulting in the first intermeeting rate cut since 2001. Before the US stock markets opened, Bernanke slashed the Fed Funds rates by 75bp, the largest cut in 23 years. With Dow futures falling 500 points on Monday, the Fed refused to sit back and watch the US stock index plunge another 4 or 5 percent. They knew that they needed to act quickly and significantly to prevent US equities from wiping out billions of dollars off the value of publicly traded US companies. Did it work? Yes and no. The Dow did not fall 500 points, but it still ended the day down 128 points. Although the Fed's 75bp emergency cut indicates how serious they are about averting a deeper slowdown in US growth, it is not enough. According to the statement that accompanied the move, the Fed's primary concern was increasing downside risks to growth, a deepening housing contraction and softening labor markets (more details on the Fed's Emergency Rate Cut) Fed's Emergency Rate Cut).
Oil price hits record $US101
New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, subsequently receded, but closed up 73 cents at an all-time high of $US100.74. The latest price spike burst Tuesday's record price of $US100.10 and record close at $US100.01. In London, Brent North Sea crude for April delivery settled 14 cents lower at $US98.42, after striking a record $US98.70 Tuesday. Prices have soared amid growing speculation that OPEC, which supplies about 40 per cent of the world's oil, may cut output at its March 5 meeting in Vienna, anticipating a fall in demand at the end of the northern hemisphere winter and a US economic slowdown, analysts said. "Supply worries and comments by some OPEC members that the group might not raise output at their March meeting provided the catalyst for the sharp rally," said Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish.
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