Posted on 06/30/2011 8:54:13 PM PDT by blam
Remember Food Inflation?
Joe Weisenthal
Jun. 30, 2011, 8:30 PM
Earlier we talked about the corn market crash, but really the story is in wheat.
Have you seen it? We're talking prices not seen since last August.
Between this and the decline in gas prices, it's inevitable that all of the official inflation measures are going to trend lower in the coming months. It will be a while, most likely, before we see anything that looks outright deflationary, but it's clear that there's been a major trend-break on this front, even as equities hold up surprisingly well.
Here's wheat via FInViz:
Here's another simple visualization: It shows the SPY (S&P 500 ETF) vs. the DBA (agriculture ETF). Long-story short. Your stock portfolio is buying a lot more bread than it was a few months ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Joe Weisenthal
Jun. 30, 2011, 5:04 PM
There was a big crash today that didn't get any attention.
Corn had one of its biggest ever one-day dives, after a USDA report showed a surprising acreage gain and volume glut.
A longer term chart reveals what a big-time crash its had:
Grains have really been on a tear, leading to a huge surge in wealth for farmers, and everyone involved in the industry.
Is this how it ends/
The price of grain drops every year at harvest time. Same with every kind of food ~ even Witlof.
I’m curious, when is harvest time exactly?
I’m curious, when is harvest time exactly?
Bacon was 2.99 for a 16 ounce package at the store near me last year.
This year a 16 ounce package is.....2.99.
Wow, where do you live? It was about that last year, and now it is 5.99 for a 12 oz. package. Milk is up by about 1.20/gallon since last year as well.
I get the no brand.
Food prices are definitely on the uptick.
I haven’t gone to the grocery store and spent less than $100 in a long time. Today I went to Publix and filled about 2/3 of a cart, with only a couple of cheap meat meals in it (sausage and some shish ka bob) and no major cleaners like detergent. My bill was $118.
That is way high for the kind of stuff I bought.
Wheat took a dive because corn’s dive affected all grains. Why did corn dive? The local farm bureau rep was on the radio today. He stated that the USDA had ‘found’ 300 million bushels, which had not been included in previous reports. Where was this corn? He beat around the bush a little, but eventually stated that ‘the markets are changing, and grain is sitting in places we didn’t look before.’. I take it he means corn is being stored at ethanol plants. Either the USDA blew it....or a cynical person may see it as an orchestrated blow to simultaneously lower food inflation, hurt farmers, and reduce cost of ethanol production.
I also buy generic, although we recently switched to locally grown meat from a farmer who uses a local butcher. His bacon is 6.99/lb, and it is so much better than the generic. We rarely eat bacon, so it’s a splurge for us. Last year my grocery budget was $100/wk. It is now $120/wk. and I’m no longer buying dipes because my son is potty trained and I’m not buying any wine or beer for myself because #2 is on the way. Prices are going up.
Thinly veiled attempt to lower food prices prior to obamas reelection. Same as the release of 30 million barrels from the strategic oil reserve to make obama apprear to be trying to lower gasoline prices. This is manipulation of the comodity markets. They have titrated the dollar to the point that the FED has no more bullets to fire. They are simply subsituting the manipulation of the dollar for the manipulation of commodities. Despairation has set in. This will get worse.
In this part of the country, wheat is harvested around May.
A lot of it is usage. Paper used to be 25 a case and now it’s 40 at Office Max. So now I buy at Sam’s for 30 and go paperless whenever possible so we actually spend less.
Two weeks ago, purple eggplant was 12.95 a case for food service. Last week, it was 22.95 for a case, and today, when I went to price it, the price was 30.95 for a case.
One of the surest ways to lose money is to bet against the American farmer’s ability to overproduce corn!
Americans can claim the don’t want ethanol as fuel, but they do want cheap meat and cheap sweetener for their soft drinks. They’ll take one to get the other.
“I get the no brand.”
Are you sure it’s not “no pig” also ? /humor.
This may or may not be funny after I’ve gotten some sleep.
they said they will lower the quantity in oz of most packaging- i got a large hershey chocolate bar today and it was much thinner than last week. so i paid the same for less product
that’s happened to the boxes of cereals too...
Texas Agriculture was declared a disaster due to the drought. Everywhere I drive the corn rows are brown. I find this article suspect.
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