First up is Australia. While the disastrous floods in the eastern part of the country, a nasty drought has hammered the country's wheat growing regions. The financial blog Zero Hedge noted the meteorlogical situation and its impact on wheat prices. The issue of inflation in food prices has political impact, and has been directly linked to social unrest in a number of countries. The absence of a strong Australian wheat harvest is likely to pressure wheat prices upward. That's good news for US farmers, but not for consumers of the staff of life.
Meanwhile, Jon Corzine slipped back into the financial news. The former Goldman Sachs CEO and chairman began working in the same roles at a derivates trading enterprise called MF Global in March 2010. (I don't know what "MF" means, but I do have a salacious guess.) It seemed like a long way from a firm most of the public associates as the epitome "Wall Street." One
wondered what Corzine had up his sleeve besides a part-time gig teaching public policy at Princeton. Today's news provides an answer. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced MF Global would be among 20 financial institutions characterized as a "primary dealer." This is big money, as they can trade directly with the Federal Reserve. As the Wikipedia entry on primary dealers notes, "arguably, this group's members are the most influential and powerful non-governmental institutions in world financial markets." Welcome -- or should one say "welcome back" -- to the club, Citizen Corzine.
Last, but not least, is my newest venture in hipness. It has nothing to do with calculated posing in select New York bars. Rather, I'm in a New York hospital getting a hip replacement. Recovery is moving along at the anticipated rate, so far. For those who have called, e-mailed, texted, and/or visited, please accept my gratitude for your care and concern.
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