Election day is here for the U.S. and both CBOT and macro markets seemed to take encouragement from that fact. The dollar moved sharply lower on election uncertainty and the movement of some cash parked internationally back to U.S. bank accounts. The weaker dollar helped support the CBOT and other commodity markets. Short covering developed early in grains as new shorts became nervous after prices were unable to make significant downside moves in recent days. There are still plenty of old (and profitable) long positions in corn, soybeans, and wheat, which remains a supportive factor. Today’s trade largely confirms the expectation that the CBOT will enter sideways, range-bound trade heading into the 10 November WASDE report. Chi...
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.