The End of Cheap Food [General]
2008 Jan 29
I recently caught part of an interview with a Big Wig at BMO Investments on TV. He is soooo predicting a rise in food prices, as the Economist article points out. All the same reasons.
I'm kinda torn.... I am about to ride this wave and invest in some agri-businesses. Maybe a sector fund or some of the Monsanto, Cargill et al. crowd.
Just the kinda companies I like to mock for their tactics, including what they are doing in Third World countries. But..... my family well-being comes first, so... "I'm selling out to The Man"
Looks like a no-brainer. With these investments I'll be able to afford the $32to38/kilo steaks (If not this summer... then the next).
The following two players have seen a recent increase in their stock price and trading activity, as well as earnings.
www.monsanto.com
www.cargill.com
Oh Well !!
I'm kinda torn.... I am about to ride this wave and invest in some agri-businesses. Maybe a sector fund or some of the Monsanto, Cargill et al. crowd.
Just the kinda companies I like to mock for their tactics, including what they are doing in Third World countries. But..... my family well-being comes first, so... "I'm selling out to The Man"
Looks like a no-brainer. With these investments I'll be able to afford the $32to38/kilo steaks (If not this summer... then the next).
The following two players have seen a recent increase in their stock price and trading activity, as well as earnings.
www.monsanto.com
www.cargill.com
Oh Well !!
2008 Jan 29
Yup it's a tough call. I've arguably 'sold out' in someways.
I believe in green power yet I hold a good deal of PetroCan. I just checked and www.bullfrogpower.com does not appear to be publicly traded.
I also used to own bank stocks. I figured "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em"
The wave I'm catching right now is gold. Sold 2/3 of my portfolio 2 months ago and bought it. Up 20% right now and expecting lots more where that came from.
Back to food, some things you can do without selling out :
- join the Ontario Natural Foods Coop. If you eat a lot of natural foods, you can save a lot of money here.
- join a CSA. Our veggies last summer were a fair bit cheaper than buying the same thing in the store.
I realise it's not investing, but it's something else you can do with your money. It would be nice to see a 'local food' fund like they one that was set up for the Halifax Farmer's Market : halifaxfarmersmarket.com/ I looked into it and unfortunately the main incentive seems to be NS tax credits. That would have been enough for me (because they were good incentives) if I lived in NS.
I believe in green power yet I hold a good deal of PetroCan. I just checked and www.bullfrogpower.com does not appear to be publicly traded.
I also used to own bank stocks. I figured "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em"
The wave I'm catching right now is gold. Sold 2/3 of my portfolio 2 months ago and bought it. Up 20% right now and expecting lots more where that came from.
Back to food, some things you can do without selling out :
- join the Ontario Natural Foods Coop. If you eat a lot of natural foods, you can save a lot of money here.
- join a CSA. Our veggies last summer were a fair bit cheaper than buying the same thing in the store.
I realise it's not investing, but it's something else you can do with your money. It would be nice to see a 'local food' fund like they one that was set up for the Halifax Farmer's Market : halifaxfarmersmarket.com/ I looked into it and unfortunately the main incentive seems to be NS tax credits. That would have been enough for me (because they were good incentives) if I lived in NS.
2008 Feb 8
Well... here is an update on my Foodie Investments.
I ended up with an agri-business (market segment) mutual fund. It doesn't even include Monsanto.
To invest in Monsanto could be too risky, even for me. They are wide open for big back-lashes (and I mean lawsuits and being shut out of markets), especially in democracies such as India.
Just to let you know I'm not a completely blind investor/capitalist, I once turned down investing in Philip Morris (owner of the Marlboro Man and Kraft Foods etc.), a number of years ago. I could have doubled my money in 18 months and been able to eat out at Allium, Absinthe etc.
That deal was good because Philip Morris were getting Class Action lawsuits (Flordia) from long term smokers with lung cancer, which drove their share price down. Meanwhile just about every Chinese smoker (mostly male) wanted to be a Marlboro Man. The empty Wal-Mart container ships that brought plastic junk to America, were loaded up with cigarettes for the voyage back to China. Since I been to mainland China in 1985, I did not want to be a participant in bringing cancer to my friends.
So I passed on the deal and I now eat meatball sandwiches from Parma Ravioli instead of duck confit and foie gras from Allium and Absinthe.
Oh Well....
I ended up with an agri-business (market segment) mutual fund. It doesn't even include Monsanto.
To invest in Monsanto could be too risky, even for me. They are wide open for big back-lashes (and I mean lawsuits and being shut out of markets), especially in democracies such as India.
Just to let you know I'm not a completely blind investor/capitalist, I once turned down investing in Philip Morris (owner of the Marlboro Man and Kraft Foods etc.), a number of years ago. I could have doubled my money in 18 months and been able to eat out at Allium, Absinthe etc.
That deal was good because Philip Morris were getting Class Action lawsuits (Flordia) from long term smokers with lung cancer, which drove their share price down. Meanwhile just about every Chinese smoker (mostly male) wanted to be a Marlboro Man. The empty Wal-Mart container ships that brought plastic junk to America, were loaded up with cigarettes for the voyage back to China. Since I been to mainland China in 1985, I did not want to be a participant in bringing cancer to my friends.
So I passed on the deal and I now eat meatball sandwiches from Parma Ravioli instead of duck confit and foie gras from Allium and Absinthe.
Oh Well....
2008 Feb 9
Caper - Philip Morris is now called the Altria Group (MO:NYSE). They just recently spun off their Kraft assets into a separate entity (KFT:NYSE) and are planning on spinning off the Philip Morris assets next month (PMI:NYSE). I'm by no means an 'ethical investor' but conglomerates such as this just aren't my thing. Zymurgist - you may be interested to know that this company has a controlling interest in SAB Miller...
A lot of institutional money has flocked to agricultural stocks over the last 6 months to a year. Some notable Canadian names include Potash Corp (POT:TO) which is a fertilizer company that's stock price has grown 5X over since 2006.
It's all about feeding China. These stocks have high price-earnings multiples right now because the street is expecting big things - be leery, just like the tech-boom once institutional money leaves this sector the stocks can and will sink at an alarming rate. I'm not sure how cyclical this business is though, and calling the "top" is next to impossible.
PM me if you have questions about trading, I'm an approved Trader for a big bank.
A lot of institutional money has flocked to agricultural stocks over the last 6 months to a year. Some notable Canadian names include Potash Corp (POT:TO) which is a fertilizer company that's stock price has grown 5X over since 2006.
It's all about feeding China. These stocks have high price-earnings multiples right now because the street is expecting big things - be leery, just like the tech-boom once institutional money leaves this sector the stocks can and will sink at an alarming rate. I'm not sure how cyclical this business is though, and calling the "top" is next to impossible.
PM me if you have questions about trading, I'm an approved Trader for a big bank.
zymurgist
www.economist.com
But the article is about a lot more than just ethanol