"We're bullilsh on meats," says Eric Roseman, who notes, "I'm convinced we're finally at a turning point in 2008 as farmers continue to cull their herds. At some point, I'm expecting beef and pork prices to surge."
Here, the resources expert and editor of The Commodity Trend Alert looks at an exchange-traded note with a memorable trading symbol -- iPath Dow Jones Livestock (NYSE: COW). Here is his review.
"With virtually all commodities soaring over the last several months, the meats have been a disappointment - until about ten days ago. I think we finally broke-out.
"Like the grains, livestock maintain a negative correlation to common stocks. It's a great portfolio diversification tool, especially in 2008 when equities cratered during the first quarter and most commodities rallied. Live cattle and lean hogs have been poor inflation-adjusted investments or speculations since the bull market in raw materials was set afire in 2002.
"Over the last six years, live cattle and lean hogs have gained just under 30% in nominal terms, or up barely 4% adjusted for inflation. That pales compared to the huge gains logged by the base metals, precious metals, the grains and other commodities.
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