General Comments There was no joy in the world's financial markets today. It started with a lower-than-expected China Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) number and finished with a terrible U.S. jobs number. Here are a few of the details:
China's PMI fell from 53.3 in April to 50.4 in May. The EU unemployment rate is at 11 percent with Spain over 20 percent. The U.S. economy only created 69,000 jobs in May compared to estimates of 150,000. March and April job creation numbers were also revised lower. The U.S. unemployment rate rose unexpectedly from 8.1 percent to 8.2 percent. Ten-year bond yields dropped to less than 1.5 percent as more money flowed into the bond markets and out of equities and commodities. Crude oil dropped below...
What You Need to Know Today: Cattle futures extended their sharp selloff Friday as weakening cash cattle prices, deteriorating feedlot profitability, and reduced packer demand continued to weigh on the market. The inability of futures to sustain a rally following last week's bullish Cattle on...
As predicted, the Federal Reserve held rates steady at the last meeting before the midterm elections, likely in part because of the election (see WPI 19 October and 22 September). The decision comes at the tail end of a midterm election cycle that has been marked by the two parties campaigning...
Key Takeaways: WPI’s new EU rapeseed crushing margin models point to weaker processing returns over the next four months due to higher rapeseed procurement costs and weaker product values. Statistical forecasts call for German crushing margins to decline from €181/MT to €...
