Record corn prices mean more expensive meat, dairy
Jun 22, 4:05 PM (ET)
By STEVENSON JACOBS
NEW YORK (AP) - Raging Midwest floodwaters that swallowed crops and sent corn and soybean prices soaring are about to give consumers more grief at the grocery store.
In the latest bout of food inflation, beef, pork, poultry and even eggs, cheese and milk are expected to get more expensive as livestock owners go out of business or are forced to slaughter more cattle, hogs, turkeys and chickens to cope with rocketing costs for corn-based animal feed.
The rising prices will also terribly hurt ethanol producers:
Rising corn prices threaten U.S. ethanol output
Ethanol's woes may not hurt pump prices but could harm U.S. biofuel policies
By Moming Zhou, MarketWatch
Last update: 9:39 p.m. EDT June 19, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Surging corn prices are taking an increasingly heavy toll on U.S. ethanol production, halting new plants, forcing smaller producers to shut down, and inviting policy makers to reconsider the nation's biofuel policies.
VeraSun Energy Corp, one of the country's biggest ethanol producers, recently delayed the opening of two plants due to the high price of corn. Nearly three-quarters of U.S. ethanol plants could face a possible shutdown as profit turns negative, says Citigroup.
Here's the bad news:
Bank of Scotland warns of market crash
Published: June 18, 2008 at 1:31 PM
EDINBURGH, Scotland, June 18 (UPI) -- The Royal Bank of Scotland warned its clients of a global stock market crash that could be among the worst in the past 100 years.
The bank predicted a 300-point drop in the Standard and Poor's 500 index by September, the Telegraph reported Wednesday. That represents about a 21-percent drop from the current S&P 500 level.
The bank's credit strategist Bob Janjuah said, "a very nasty period is soon to be upon us."
"I do not think I can be much blunter," Janjuah said. "If you have to be in credit, focus on quality, short durations, non-cyclical defensive names."
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