Gold prices are near 5-year low

New York (Nov 28)  Gold prices dove to a new five-year low on Friday, nearing $1,050 per ounce for the first time since February 2010. Prices continue to melt lower as investors flock toward stocks, bonds or real estate in search of better returns. Meanwhile, speculators are selling short the metal in hopes of being able to buy it back at a profitably lower price in the future.
 
Some analysts warn that the market can’t seem to stabilize, even after bullish events like Tuesday’s shocking news that Turkey shot down a Russian fighter plane. That event was a spark that could have ignited an already volatile situation in Syria and could have resulted in explosively higher gold prices. Instead, the gold market gave a muted $10 rally, only to be followed by sharply lower prices by the weekend.

Don’t cry for wheat, Argentina

Wheat prices collapsed this week after Argentines elected a new president who is likely to increase wheat exports onto the global market.

Breaking a string of populist presidents, Argentina elected a free-market candidate, Mauricio Macri, last weekend. One of his proposed measures is a lifting of crop export restrictions, which should allow Argentina’s wheat exports to double, while boosting corn sales as well.

Until now, Argentine farmers had been planting almost two-thirds of their cropland with soybeans, which they were able to export more easily than corn or wheat. Going forward, they likely will return to a mix that better matches the U.S., where corn and wheat are more heavily planted with soybeans as a significant, but not overwhelmingly predominant, crop.

On the expectation that more grain soon will be on the market, wheat tumbled to a fresh 10-week low, trading as low as $4.66 per bushel on Friday. Meanwhile, expectations for less South American soybeans jumped prices to a three-week high at $8.77 per bushel.

For Midwestern farmers, Argentina’s new policies may encourage the U.S. to plant more beans and less corn and wheat to compensate for Argentina’s changing production.

Source: SouthBendTribune