''The Big Mac And Your Financial Health: Rising Burger Prices Show A Worrying Trend''

From Seeking Alpha
By Doug Short

''The rise in the price of a Big Mac is faster than the official rise in consumer prices and has been since the late 90's. In 1998, the average price of a Big Mac was about $2.50. Today, the average Big Mac is $4.33. If we were using the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the price of a Big Mac today would be about $3.35. See the graph below. The price hikes represented by this popular burger will impact individuals more than the saturated fat content that Big Macs bear.''

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''Exceptional'' Drought Conditions Expand In The U.S., Likely Persisting Through February''

From Think Progress

''The stubborn U.S. drought that hit the Southeast and Midwest hard this summer isn’t letting up. According to the latest drought monitor, conditions have worsened slightly across the country, with “exceptional drought” conditions expanding from 38 percent of the lower-48 states to 42 percent. Those conditions could last into February.''

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''Give Thanks for Low Food Prices as They’ll Rise Next Year''

From Bloomberg

''Americans may want to freeze the leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner, as retail food prices are expected to rise next year, sparked by the country’s worst drought in more than half a century.

Next year, retail poultry prices are projected to increase as much as 4 percent, beef by 5 percent and dairy products by 4.5 percent because of higher feed prices and as herds thinned by the drought tighten supplies, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.''

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''Rising Food Prices - Threat to Global Economic Development''

From Economy Watch

''The most recent threat to the global economy is the rising food prices. The ever-expanding demand-supply gap is the contributing factor for this food price rise. In the recent times the shortage in the food supply has led to violence in many parts of the world. Pakistan has made use of troops to safeguard trucks that are carrying flour and wheat. Violent protests are also witnessed in countries like Mexico, Morocco, and Uzbekistan. This has in turn affected the normal functioning of the economy. The worst hit is the trade segment, which is the major source of revenue for these countries.''

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''The real cost of global food''

From Times of Malta
By Joseph Vella Bonnici 

''Global food prices are soaring again; the price of corn and wheat surged by almost 50 per cent in recent months. There is growing fear that, like 2008, this will lead to riots and social unrest in poorer countries. While we, in the West, wonder what we will have for dinner, almost half of humanity is unsure whether it will have any dinner at all.''

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''Let it snow - U.S. farms need recharged soil moisture after drought''

From Reuters

''Drought-struck areas of the U.S. Plains winter wheat belt need a deluge of rain and snow this winter to fully recharge parched farmland, an unlikely scenario that means wheat, corn and soybean crops could face a rough new season.''

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Economy: ''Inflation Has Become A Way Of Life In America''

From ETF Daily News

''Inflation is a tax which is destroying the value of each dollar that we hold a little bit more every single day, and the American people deserve to know the truth about what is going on.

In this day and age, it simply does not pay to put money into long-term savings.  When you finally pull your money out it will have far less purchasing power than it originally did.''

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''Drought and SuperBugs Devastate U.S. Corn Crop''

From The New American

''In yet another instance of "unintended consequences," a recent study has determined that this year’s drought damage to corn crops is even worse because of Bt corn, and failure to rotate crops.

Bt corn is a type of GMO and the subject of the recent investigation into the rootworm outbreak. One effect of the pest’s presence is that it prevents corn roots from absorbing water, especially serious given this year’s drought. Pest experts suggest that the primary reason for the rootworm-infested crops is that rootworms have become resistant to the Bt protein, resulting in strong and larger rootworm populations.''

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''Barclays makes £500 ($790) million betting on food crisis''

From Investment Watch Blog


''Barclays has made as much as half a billion pounds in two years from speculating on food staples such as wheat and soya, prompting allegations that banks are profiting handsomely from the global food crisis.

Barclays is the UK bank with the greatest involvement in food commodity trading and is one of the three biggest global players, along with the US banking giants Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, research from the World Development Movement points out.''

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''Global wheat prices expected to soar''

From Daily News Egypt

''The drought that recently hit the United States and Russia, the largest wheat exporters in the world, triggered fears of a global price rise of the strategic commodity.

One of the world’s largest wheat importers, Egypt is expected to suffer greatly as a result.

In addition, Egyptian wheat imports are minor compared to imports of other countries. Noamany said last season, Egypt imported 300,000 tonnes of wheat, compared to 3.6 million tonnes imported by Russia. The US drought will definitely force up international wheat prices during the current year, he added.''

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''Food prices skyrocket''

From Russia & India Report

''Dry riverbeds, idle wind power stations, vast fields of shriveled, withered corn – the U.S. is experiencing the worst drought in fifty years. The Mississippi River has become so shallow that tourist boats are no longer allowed to sail in it. But the U.S. is not the only country affected by the drought – in Brazil, rainfalls are destroying the sugar cane crops while in India, the rainy season is late and much of the crops have been destroyed by heat. Australia and Russia have also been hit with a heat wave. According to estimates from the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, the heat wave has already destroyed 6 percent of cultivated area in the country, with the Southern Federal District suffering the most.''

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''We'll make a killing out of food crisis, trading boss boasts''

From The Independent
 
''The United Nations, aid agencies and the British Government have lined up to attack the world's largest commodities trading company, Glencore, after it described the current global food crisis and soaring world prices as a "good" business opportunity.


With the US experiencing a rerun of the drought "Dust Bowl" days of the 1930s and Russia suffering a similar food crisis that could see Vladimir Putin's government banning grain exports, the senior economist of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, Concepcion Calpe, told The Independent: "Private companies like Glencore are playing a game that will make them enormous profits."

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''Glencore Sees ‘Unprecedented’ Situation in Grain in 2nd Half''

From Bloomberg

''Glencore International Plc (GLEN) said the situation in grains and oilseeds in the second half of the year will be “unprecedented” as drought slashes U.S. crops, while a ban on Russian exports is unlikely at the moment.

Corn production in the U.S. may come to 260 million to 265 million metric tons amid drought that is comparable to the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s, Chris Mahoney, director for agricultural products, said on a conference call today. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the corn crop at 273.8 million tons and exports at 33 million tons. It’s “debatable” whether U.S. exports will meet the USDA target, Mahoney said.''

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''Will the Crop Crisis Trigger Inflation?''

From Financial Sense

''Our news media have not given enough attention to the very serious heat problems of this summer's growing season for grains. The heat and drought have seriously damaged the corn crop during the early July period of tasseling. The price of corn at $8 per bushel is a new record high. Similarly, $9 per bushel of wheat and soybeans at $16 a bushel are a record high. Soybeans are in the middle of their crucial pod filling stages in August and are looking vulnerable. The decline in the quality of the corn crop over the growing season shows just how serious this year's drought has been.''

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''World powers eye emergency food meeting; action doubted''

From Reuters

''Leading members of the Group of 20 nations are prepared to trigger an emergency meeting to address soaring grain prices caused by the worst U.S. drought in more than half a century and poor crops from the Black Sea bread basket.

France, the United States and G20 president Mexico will hold a conference call at the end of August to consider whether an emergency international meeting is required, aiming to avoid a repetition of the food price spike that triggered riots in poorer countries in 2008.''

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''Rice Hoard Offers World Respite as Food Costs Surge''

From Bloomberg

''At a time when droughts are driving corn and soybeans to all-time highs, farmers are set to reap a record rice crop and Thailand is building the biggest stockpile in at least five decades, helping avoid a global food crisis.

The largest exporting nation bought 11 million metric tons as of July, enough to supply the six biggest importers, Commerce Ministry data show. As corn farmers from the U.S. to Ukraine endure drought, paddy fields will yield 1.1 million tons more milled grain, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts. Benchmark 5-percent Thai white rice will drop 14 percent to $480 a ton by Dec. 31, according to the median of 10 estimates from traders and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.''

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''India's mid-summer nightmare''

From Hindustan Times

''Just two years ago, India had its worst drought in three decades, resulting in high food prices.

A patchy monsoon trims food output and hits farm income, which supports two-thirds of the Indian population, or about 800 million people. Rural spending on most items — from television sets to gold — goes up with adequate rains and farm output. This aids economic growth, keeps jobs and investment going. A sharp rise in rural consumer spending explains why India's rural markets are important. For instance, rural buyers account for close to 40% of India's total motorcycle sales.

 "We are more concerned about the impact of a weaker summer crop on primary food inflation (the whole price index)," said Chetan Ahya of Morgan Stanley Asia.''

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''Food Report: One Harvest Away from a Catastrophe''

From Financial Sense

''Because of the worst drought since 1988 the U.S. Department of Agriculture declared a federal disaster area in almost one-third of all the counties in the United States - more than 1,300 counties covering 29 states, the largest disaster declaration ever made by the USDA. Only in the 1930s and 1950s has a drought covered more land.''

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''The world is closer to a food crisis than most people realise''

From The Guardian

''In the early spring this year, US farmers were on their way to planting some 96m acres in corn, the most in 75 years. A warm early spring got the crop off to a great start. Analysts were predicting the largest corn harvest on record.

The United States is the leading producer and exporter of corn, the world's feedgrain. At home, corn accounts for four-fifths of the US grain harvest. Internationally, the US corn crop exceeds China's rice and wheat harvests combined. Among the big three grains – corn, wheat, and rice – corn is now the leader, with production well above that of wheat and nearly double that of rice.''

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''World Braced For New Food Crisis''

From Nikkei


''The world is facing a new food crisis as the worst US drought in more than 50 years pushes agricultural commodity prices to record highs.

Corn and soyabean prices surged to record highs on Thursday, surpassing the peaks of the 2007-08 crisis that sparked food riots in more than 30 countries. Wheat prices are not yet at record levels but have rallied more than 50 per cent in five weeks, exceeding prices reached in the wake of Russia's 2010 export ban.

The drought in the US, which supplies nearly half the world's exports of corn and much of its soyabeans and wheat, will reverberate well beyond its borders, affecting consumers from Egypt to China.''

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