Trade Futures, Spreads and Options with Confidence.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a cash crop is a “readily salable crop produced or gathered primarily for market.” In layman’s terms, these are growable commodities that are harvested, stored, and marketed instead of being directly consumed. In the U.S., the most common cash crops are corn, cotton, and assorted fruits. Globally, wheat, corn, rice,… Read more.
Reworking U.S. foreign trade has been a priority throughout President Donald Trump’s first term in office. To address this goal, the administration focused its efforts on replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and crafting new trade deals with the U.K., the E.U., and China. The process has… Read more.
For farmers, every year brings a new cycle of “out with the old and in with the new.” Old crops are marketed, new crops are planted, and existing crops are harvested.
Last year was a rough one for U.S. agricultural producers. A strong El Niño cycle, extraordinary flooding, and U.S.-China trade tensions posed a collection of unique challenges. As a result, U.S. family farm bankruptcies jumped from 498 (2018) to 595 (2019)―a 20 percent gain and an eight-year high.
In the real world, as well as in the markets, managing risk is a critical part of avoiding financial catastrophe. From buying a life insurance policy to diversifying your portfolio, actively addressing risk can save countless dollars and provide peace of mind.
Although a seemingly elementary point, weather is a principal X-factor that affects corn, wheat, and soybean prices, as well as the futures markets for these commodities . It’s an integral part of the evolving supply/demand curve, as well as being the single largest influencer of production. Simply put, the weather is an elite driver of… Read more.
Accurately predicting the financial result of your grain harvest months ahead of time is certainly a challenge. A litany of factors impact the final bottom line, from crop yields to fluctuations in asset pricing. Fortunately for producers, grain futures trading can help maximize the rewards from a year spent in the fields.
The release of an economic data report can dramatically increase the degree of volatility facing a broad spectrum of asset classes. Metals, energies, currencies, and agricultural futures contracts are susceptible to wild swings in pricing following an official announcement.
Energy costs are an unavoidable reality facing a broad spectrum of industries. For example, if you’re involved in transportation, agriculture, or even retail, it’s likely that you have a line item on the monthly budget exclusively for energy.
One of the most unpredictable and influential factors facing economic output is the weather. Natural disasters, abnormal seasonal extremes, and even unexpected precipitation levels can have dramatic consequences on both industry and consumption.