Highlights
Ukraine and the EU are considering rebuilding port facilities and fund transportation of grain to ports in Croatia and Lithuania. That will take at least US$1.5 billion and how many months or years? How long will it take a Russian drone to destroy the new construction? They need to spend $1.5 billion to end the war. But then, ending the war is not the goal. Keeping the war going is the goal so all participants in government and war insiders can earn and/or siphon-off big dollars.
The Federal Reserve did raise US interest rates yesterday for the 11th time in 17 months. The bad news is Fed Chairman Powell said getting inflation down to 2% has a long way to go. That means more interest rate increases, but some economists think the Fed will not raise interest rates again until September. We do not think the Fed will wait that long. Energy makes up more than 10% of the consumer inflation number. In the 12 months ending June 30, energy costs were down ~16.4%. Energy prices are rising around the globe and the US is drilling fewer and fewer oil and gas wells every week. Will reduced costs of labor, food, medical care, taxes, and interest offset rising energy costs in the coming 6 months?
USDA announced yesterday morning the sale of 501,000 mts of new crop soybeans to the unknown. Export demand this week for US beans supported beans yesterday while wheat was falling supposedly because Russia, Ukraine along with the EU seek independent paths to meet world wheat demand. What in the world does that mean?