| Will Israel Shackle the Shekel?
For decades Israelis have viewed the U.S. dollar almost as a second national currency. Everything from rents to savings were linked to the greenback, which for many people represented financial stability in a country traditionally wracked with high inflation. But in the past two years, Israelis have undergone an unprecedented challenge as the value of their own currency, the shekel, has soared against the dollar and more recently even against the euro. The dollar bought 4.7 shekels in November, 2005. Now the greenback is worth 3.6 shekels. In other words, the shekel has risen by more than 20% in that time—and 6% in the past month alone. Now both business and labor are calling loudly for a weaker currency. On Feb. 7 Prime Minister Ehud Olmert convened an emergency meeting of the country's top economic leadership to discuss what is being dubbed the "dollar crisis." At the same time Olmert and Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On came out strongly in support of Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, who is opposed to any government intervention in the foreign currency market.
FRIDAY MORNING SOYBEAN UPDATE
Soybeans continued their gains on Thursday closing 18 ? cents higher in the January contract. In spite of a breakdown in wheat soybeans are up 11 ? cents for the week while wheat has lost 53 ? cents. The rally occurred in spite of disappointing weekly export sales and a slightly negative monthly Census crush traders say. Also bearish was an improvement in planting conditions in Brazil and improved harvest conditions in the US Midwest. Volume was heavy especially in Soybeans. CBOT reports 152,079 Soybeans, 36,819 Soybean oil and 45,822 Soybean Meal traded Thursday. Funds were active buying an estimated 7,000 Soybeans, 4,000 Meal and 4,000 Oil.
Today?s early opening calls are higher based upon surging crude oil, gold and further declines in the US dollar. Overnight markets in the bean complex are all higher beans up 7 ?, oil up .52 and meal up .10.
Platinum Hits Record High Yet Again; Wheat Also Jumps To All-Time High
Platinum hit record highs for a third straight session on Monday amid output woes in South Africa and inflation from pricier oil. Wheat also peaked for a third day running on heavy speculative buying. Copper prices ended up but off their highs after a large earthquake in Chile, the world's biggest producer of copper and home to a wide array of industrial metal deposits. Leading commodity indexes such as the Reuters-Jefferies CRB, S&P GSCI and Dow Jones-AIG all rose about 1% each. Fundamentals aside, investors were drawn to commodities after Wall Street stocks slid on uninspiring U.S. factory orders for December which came in below expectations but not weak enough to spark a broad market shake-up. A weaker U.S. dollar against the euro also bolstered the case for buying inflation-sensitive commodities, particularly precious metals like gold and platinum.
The New "GOLDilocks" Economy
The big news last weekend was CitiGroup temporarily withholding dividend payments and having an emergency meeting to determine how to correct or "cover up" any derivative problems. Up here in Canada, we might think we are immune to the derivative scandal, but the Ontario Teachers Pension Fund, the Quebec Pension fund (others I have not been able to find much more information about) and some Canadian banks such as BMO have some involvement in the bad credit many US banks spread around the globe. BMO is reported to have the largest exposure to the US SIV market than any other Canadian bank. Apparently, BMO raised 22 billion in August to strengthen their balance sheet in the event that any "problem" may arise. It appears that Canadian banks are much more conservative than the US banks south of the border that would grant loans to immigrant workers who lied about their income.
Obama and Progressive Change
And I already hear it coming so I will be clear, I DO NOT BELIEVE OBAMA IS PROGRESSIVE. I do not believe that he will create change. What I believe is that he can be an agent of change by bringing in political idealists, and then they will almost inevidably become disillusioned by the 2 corporate parties and either demand real change through the current system or join me and others in the Green Party. .
Newspoll predicts cliffhanger
He will ensure that people like me can afford to live properly, and to keep the ruffians away. We simply CANNOT allow the labor party types, or, aw gawd, GREENS gain some sense of power!! We cannot! Posted by: Concerned Citizen of Ascot 8:48pm November 23, 2007 Comment 387 of 392 .
Big profit tipped for BHP
BHP Billiton is expected to deliver a strong interim profit tomorrow, and likely formalise its massive takeover offer for rival Rio Tinto. BHP Billiton's first half profit for fiscal 2008 is set to eclipse the previous corresponding result of $US6.168 billion ($A6.84 billion), analysts say. ABN Amro analyst Warren Edney is forecasting a profit of $US6.3 billion ($A6.99 billion) and says investors will be looking for an update by the resources giant on impact of flooding in Queensland on its coal operations and power issues in South Africa. "BHP may be able to quantify the impact of the floods and I think that will be relatively important," Mr Edney said. "The other key thing will be seeing what they say about the issues of southern African power." Last month, heavy rain in central Queensland forced the closure of a number of coal operations, while electricity shortages in South Africa have disrupted a number of different operations in the country.
Demand will be focus of wheat market for near term
In fact, with Chinese soybean crops declining due to adverse growing conditions, demand is forecast to remain strong and improve into February 2008.Brazil and Argentina currently are planting their crops under virtually ideal weather conditions. Note, Brazil and Argentina store little to no excess grain, as storage elevators are absent from the countryside, not like here in the U.S.Grain goes from field to port, which means they need to forward contract, or pre-sell their crop before it's harvested to insure it doesn't pile up on the farm. This means South America will post their price for beans under any U.S. price to insure they capture the export business, as there is nowhere to store it.From the start of the U.S. harvest in October until South American soybean harvest in March, is the big demand window for U.S.
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