For those interested in details- there is a Webcast going on right NOW (1 pm EDT) of the current US Commodities Futures Trading Commission.
" In the last three
months, the agricultural staples of wheat, corn, soybeans, rice and oats have hit all-time
highs. During the last year, the price of rice has increased by 118%, wheat by 95%,
soybeans by 88%, corn by 66%, and cotton and oats by 47%. "
months, the agricultural staples of wheat, corn, soybeans, rice and oats have hit all-time
highs. During the last year, the price of rice has increased by 118%, wheat by 95%,
soybeans by 88%, corn by 66%, and cotton and oats by 47%. "
more soon. far as I can figure; most of them are saying; golly, no, we need to "let the market" fix itself; just needs MORE MONEY pouring in...
meanwhile: BBC - UN food chief urges crisis action: "Josette Sheeran told the BBC that an additional 100 million people, who did not need assistance six months ago, could not now afford to purchase food."
ONE HUNDRED MILLION
MORE PEOPLE
- IN THE LAST 6 MONTHS-
CANNOT BUY FOOD
Greenpa, I'm listening to this and I can't even tell they're talking about food! It's all about 'margins' and 'clearinghouses' and the 'liquidity crunch.'
ReplyDeletehi, Theresa- yeah, I know. The way it works right now, the Commission is NOT run to protect the commodities, and keep things fair- but to make it a huge cash cow. So obfuscation is a huge advantage. Food? where? I'm talkin PROFITS, dude, the important stuff.
ReplyDeleteLater in the broadcast I heard one person talk briefly about how terrible it is being represented negatively in the media when "people are starving" - he made it sound like such a terrible thing to have to put up with such bad press.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I've composed a letter to my newly elected provincial MLA, who happens to have been a futures trader. So we'll see how well my letter goes over with him.
Theresa- if we can make them feel like scum, we'll be succeeding. They are. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'll make a prediction about your MLA's response - alas- "My esteemed constituent - don't you worry your little head about all this. It's terribly complex, and you just don't understand. We do- trust us."
Betcha. Boy, I hope I'm wrong.
Interesting stuff and a great cause, I've just posted about you and your concerns and will do what I can from the Canadian perspective.
ReplyDeleteI do know something about futures markets and the weird thing is they allow contracts for many times the real amount of existing commodity, for example in the silver market the shorts have contracts representing 3x more silver than the entire NYMEX has in storage for delivery which manipulates the price down. Recent wheat longs had more than 2.5x more contracts than deliverable wheat. Makes little sense to me how you can trade in paper that can't be redeemed.