General Comments Most financial and commodity markets enthusiastically greeted the Congress's passage of a last minute fix that avoids (at least for now) the scheduled double whammy of tax increases and government spending cuts. We will not repeat the details here since they have been covered ad nauseum by the media. Suffice it to say that the agreement postpones the hard decisions about tax policy, spending, entitlements and the budget deficit. In fact, the agreement will actually increase the deficit in FY 2013. The next round probably will occur when the Obama Administration is forced to seek more borrowing authority in a few months.The enthusiasm over the agreement was probably more a sigh of relief than anything else. Nevertheless,...
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 €...
From WPI Consulting
Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming
WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.