Snapshot of news and events for today
Quick links |
* Financial markets * Ag futures * USDA reports this week * NWS forecast * Major media * Ag media * Political humorists |
| Financial markets | Major world indicators |
Japanese trading...
- Closed for holiday.
Monday’s U.S. Markets...
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 372.75, or 3.3 percent, to 11,015.69 --the first time the Dow has moved at least 350 points four days in a row. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 4.2 percent to end at 2,178.98
- The 10-year Treasury note was down 2/32, yielding 3.824 percent while the 30-year bond was off 11/32, yielding 4.407 percent.
- The dollar traded at was at 105.19 yen from 107.27 yen Friday, while the euro $1.4839 from $1.4474 Friday marking the dollar’s biggest percentage decline against the euro ever.
| Ag futures | Yesterday‘s action and overnight indicators |
- Overnight trade: Check the link for updated prices and/or settlements.
What happened yesterday...
- Corn: Futures settled mostly 16 to 21 cents higher, which was in the middle of the day’s trading range.
- Soybeans: Futures gapped higher on the open and sharply extended gains to finish 61 1/2 to 67 1/2 cents higher.
- Wheat: Futures opened higher and extended to the upside, but trimmed gains into the close.
- Cotton: Futures posted strong gains and finished with a high-range close.
- Lean Hogs: Lean hog futures remained in positive territory through the day to finish 45 cents to $1.65 higher.
- Live Cattle: Live cattle futures finished solidly higher, but could only manage a mid-range close in most contracts.
Scheduled USDA Reports & Summaries This Week | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Agricultural Marketing Service = (A) | ||||
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
Sept. 22 Grain Inspections (A) | 23 Weather - Crop Summary (N) | 24 Broiler Hatchery (N) | 25 U.S. Export Sales (F) | 26 Dairy Products Prices (N) |
| Overview | Other reports affecting agriculture |
| Major media | Links to top news reports with potential U.S. ag impact |
Wall Street Journal (subscription to site required for access)
- Federal Prosecutors Probe Food-Price Collusion Federal authorities are looking into price-fixing allegations relative to egg products and processors of tomatoes for canning, ketchup, salsa and sauces conspired to fix prices. The article points out these are new investigations as there are already criminal or civil inquiries in markets including fertilizer, cheese and milk.
- Doubts on Rescue Plan Spur Fall In Dollar, Leap for Oil Markets tumbled Monday as lawmakers and the government moved closer to a deal on a rescue plan, but many note the plan may still not fix the financial woes out there and it will take time for the plan’s impacts to be felt across the economy.
Related item:
Will Bailout Spur Inflation? Hedge That Bet
Treasury Relents on Key Points
Auto-Finance Firms Seek a Hand
Rescue Plan’s Success Gets Linked to Home Prices
Walls Come Down, Reviving Fears of a Falling Titan
Small Banks Pursue Piece of Bailout
Bailout Pitch Tests Paulson’s Political Skill
Bailout Won’t Help Europe Banks Much
Candidates Keep Their Bailout Stances to Themselves
Meltdown Alters Dynamic in Races for Congress
The End of Wall Street Editorial
Insurance Companies Need a Federal Regulator Commentary item by Sens. John Sununu (R-N.H.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and Reps. Melissa Bean (D-Ill..) and Ed Royce (R-Calif.).
Trusts Require Attention During Market Turmoil
- Funds Get Freer Hand in Buying Bank Stakes . The Fed is broadening the rules to allow private-equity firms, government investment funds and others to buy stakes in banks.
- SEC Quickly Revises Short-Selling Rules Shift on Financials, Hedge Funds Sends Traders Scrambling The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) has already altered its rules on short selling that were put in place last week. The SEC has decided that those engaged in bona fide market making and hedging activity, including in derivative contracts, could continue to short.
- Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Takeovers Cost U.S. Banks Billions About 25% of U.S. banks figure they will lose an estimated $10 billion to $15 billion from the federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
- Labels Will Say If Your Beef Was Born in the USA The item looks at the coming implementation of mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL), looking at it mostly from a consumer perspective.
- China Food-Safety Chief Resigns in Dairy Scandal Recalls Expand; Nestlé Is Forced to Pull Milk Line. The head of China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine quit, the highest-level official to resign over the matter so far. It notes other impacts, including that Chinese dairy farmers are pouring milk into rivers as they have no buyers.
New York Times (registration to site required)
- Bailout Talks Advance, but Doubts Voiced in Congress Democrats and others in Congress are seeking to include limits on executive pay for companies that participate in the plan, help for borrowers on mortgages and an equity stake for taxpayers/government in firms that seek to get rid of bad debt.
Related items:
Experts See a Need for Punitive Action in Bailout
Foreign Nations Pledge Support, but Not Financing
Last Two Big Investment Banks Reinvent Their Businesses
A Fund to Rival Those of Other Governments
- New Process Eliminates a Fertilizer’s Blast Threat Honeywell today is to announce it has found a process where by combining ammonium nitrate fertilizer with ammonium sulfate fertilizer, it no longer is an explosive.
- Ban Near on Diverting Water From Great Lakes . The House has started work on legislation that would bar diversion of water from the Great Lakes and would put conservation restrictions on eight states bordering the bodies of water.
- Hill Clashes on Rescue Plan; Dollar Drags Down Markets Lawmakers Struggle to Gain Support For Bailout Two sticking points have emerged in crafting the plan, including a difference on executive compensation and on guaranteeing taxpayers share in profits if those firms recover financially. Although some lawmakers are starting to question the basic premise of the bailout itself.
Related items:
A New Landscape, the Same Proposals
Bailout’s Tricky Balancing Act: How Much Is Too Much?
Democrats to Offer Stimulus Measures
Wall St. Points to Disclosure As Issue
Firms Too Big to Fail May Grow Stronger
Asian Banks Invest in Morgan Stanley, Lehman
- Top Chinese Food Inspector Resigns Amid Milk Scandal The tainted milk situation is the latest stumbling block China has encountered as it seeks to overhaul its food safety system. The tainted milk has now been linked to illnesses in over 53,000 infants.
| Ag media | Monitoring the countryside |
Omaha World-Herald (Nebraska)
- Gibbon, Neb., turkey plant shutting down The plant will run into December but then will be shutdown indefinitely. Efforts are underway to try and keep the plant in operation.
Des Moines Register (Iowa)
- Law offers cash to smooth shift to organic farms The item looks at the provision in the new farm bill that would offer farmers up to $20,000 to help with costs associated with converting their operations to organic.
| Laughing with, not at | From political humorists |
Craig Ferguson: “Today, John McCain said he’ll release his medical records by end of the year. He’s not stalling, though. He is just old. It is going to take a long time to print out.”
Craig Ferguson: “Out on the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton hasn’t been mentioning Sarah Palin at all. She’s just talking about John McCain. Not surprising. Hillary’s always been good at ignoring the ‘other woman.’”
Craig Ferguson: “The big news story today is…Sarah Palin. Every day, Sarah Palin. And it is not exactly hard-hitting stuff. I haven’t seen the media fawn over a celebrity this much since -- Barack Obama.”
