Hog News

• Have You Ever Met a Bacon Farmer?
  
  02/08/2012
• Let the Political Games Begin
  
  02/08/2012
  In the spirit of the political atmosphere, it is necessary to take a closer look at the extreme animal rights groups. The evolution of their political agenda can be an eye-opener.
• Positive Profit Outlook for Pork Producers
  
  02/07/2012
  After several years of struggling to earn a profit, pork producers could find themselves back in the black in 2012.
• Warming Up
  
  02/03/2012
  Midwest weather has been warmer than normal, and the grain markets have warmed up a little as well. Potentially tighter stocks in South America, the Black Sea area and South Africa got trade attention. Cotton also finished strong this past week, thanks to a drop in the unemployment rate to 8.3% and signs that consumers might be getting their credit cards out of the deep freeze.
• A Dollar Slide Helps A Lot
  
  01/27/2012
  The US dollar index has been in retreat for 10 trading sessions, a full two weeks. It is down 3.4% since January 13 and down 1.7% this week. The decline has helped support commodities priced in dollars. All of the grains we track were up more than the buck was down, with fundamental factors adding to the gains. The only commodity that proved immune to the dollar’s siren call was cotton. Prices there were down 2.6% for the week.
• Grains Try To Rally
  
  01/20/2012
  The stock market rallied more than 2% this past week, feeling better about the economy and about Europe. Corn and soybeans also rallied, looking toward better demand. Wheat was a hanger-on, with large projected global ending stocks a wet blanket to put out bullish fires. Cattle got the bullish memo, with cash prices up $3 on Friday and strong weekly export sales reported by USDA.
• Spreading Manure on Frozen Ground
  
  01/20/2012
  In some states, manure application on frozen ground is prohibited, while some states provide the option with certain limits.
• November Pork Exports Record-Large
  
  01/15/2012
  U.S. pork exports set another monthly volume record, which helped offset high production. Beef exports remain strong too.
• Winter Games
  
  01/13/2012
  The term Winter Games usually applies to the Winter Olympics. Those won’t happen until February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. We’re talking about market games, the kind that are played around USDA reports and other major news events. For the January 12 USDA reports, the grain bears were the clear winners, outpointing the bulls in rather lopsided fashion.
• A Dollar Weather Market
  
  01/06/2012
  Weather markets are notoriously difficult to trade. Between different weather models and shifting emphasis on critical time frames it is tough to consistently anticipate what the hot money is looking at or reacting to. The task is even more difficult when the weather and crop conditions in question are in the hinterlands of Argentina or Brazil. There was another dominant weather item this week, an ill wind out of the euro zone that boosted the US dollar vs. the euro and many other currencies.

Hogs News Wire