BloggingStocks

That new countryside farmer may be an ex-investment banker

Joseph Lazzaro — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:33:00 EST

Filed under: Other Issues, Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, Agriculture

One thing that can be said about the 2008 financial climate: this is not a halcyon time for investment banking professionals.

The credit market stress that has rocked U.S. and European markets this year has idled many investment bankers, syndicate and securities professionals and related financial specialists. Many have adjusted their career tracks, if they haven't already shifted to a new profession / line of work.

And what's one sector that may see an influx of displaced banking talent and/or represent a new, hot sector for dealmakers? Farming.

That's right: Farming. Two factors suggest farming may need, and attract, more talent: 1) the bullish trend for food given increased demand, and 2) the preference for locally-grown food, so says economist Glen Langan, whose specializations include agricultural economics.

"International food demand has improved food profit margins to the point where farming can compete for capital with other up-and-coming sectors," Langan said. "There's always a risk that food demand could pull back slightly on a global economic slowdown, but the long-term factors are and will remain bullish."

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That new countryside farmer may be an ex-investment banker originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The new investment fund asset class-of-choice: farms

Joseph Lazzaro — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:05:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, Commodities, Agriculture

The economic boom in emerging markets has driven up both the value of commodities and the food production process itself.

Moreover, the long-term trends look good, with out-sized gains likely to stretch for more than five years, if current emerging market economic growth trends continue.

That suggests the sector is likely to continue to attract new investors, and huge investment funds - - not a conventional source of capital for farming, historically - - have already started making bolder and longer-term food-related investments, by buying farmland, fertilizer, grain elevators, and shipping equipment, The New York Times reported Thursday.

One example: the BlackRock fund group plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in agriculture, chiefly farmland, from sub-Saharan Africa to the English countryside, The Times reported.

Farms: the new asset class-of-choice

Economist Glen Langan told BloggingStocks Thursday the investment fund / managed fund money flow in farmland and food is the logical next step for agriculture, given the large gains in global food demand projected for the next 5-8 years.

"The equity markets have not fully come to grips with the enormity of his increased demand, but investment funds are beginning to comprehend it, and the money flow toward farms has begun," Langan said. "Think about this - - China and India combined could add about 3-5 million members to the world's middle class each year over the next decade. Those are consumers with money to spend, and they'll consume more food. And that total does not include expanding middle classes in South America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East."

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Good news for Big Oil, biofuels cause pollution

Douglas McIntyre — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 10:50:00 EST

Filed under: Bad News, Economic Data, Commodities, Oil, Agriculture

The idea behind switching energy usage from fossil-based fuel like gas to ethanol is that it is better for the environment. Much of the push to create alternative energy companies has been based on this premise and it has also helped the American farmer get more for crops like corn.

Now it appears that ethanol may not be so "green." According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), "a study published in the latest issue of Science finds that corn-based ethanol, a type of biofuel pushed heavily in the U.S., will nearly double the output of greenhouse-gas emissions." A second study appears to support those findings. Part of the CO2 increase created by biofuels is due to changing land from forest to farmland. The process causes large amounts of greenhouse-gas emissions to be sent into the atmosphere.

The news is hardly good for the hundreds of biofuel companies that have been created around the drive for "green" fuel, and it may not be good for farmers who are getting higher yield from the crops they plant to create alternative energy.

But it may be very good news indeed for Big Oil.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Good news for Big Oil, biofuels cause pollution originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 Feb 2008 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Organics are bad for you -- financially

Sarah Gilbert — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 14:51:00 EST

Filed under: Products and Services, Newspapers, Magazines, Wal-Mart (WMT), Marketing and Advertising, Kellogg Co (K), Whole Foods Market (WFMI)

Investing in organics has been a hot trend in the past few years. Demand for organic products is so high that some companies, like Stonyfield Farms, can't find enough organic milk to deliver on its organic yogurt orders. Organic farmers are doing well and news that even Wal-Mart would offer organic produce has inspired headlines that queried, will organics soon be everywhere?

In a word, no. And what's more, it's looking like betting on organics is bad for you, financially. Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFMI), long the darling of healthy-minded investors, isn't growing fast enough. The stock is down 27% since last week. This, coupled with news that Wal-Mart might be struggling with its organics goals, has us all wondering if we should just embrace pesticides after all.

As Alyce Lomax points out and we've mentioned a number of times here on BloggingStocks, the true irony about all this is that truly faithful organics fans are almost angrily opposed to large, industrial farms. So that, by embracing this positive, healthy movement -- by making organic Rice Krispies, of all things -- in the blindly optimistic American way, which is by standardizing, industrializing, making really really big ... American businesses are perverting everything that is organic. [The Onion made hilarious fun of this trend in a satire here.] It's just not "sustainable" if it's done in tons for the Kellogg Company (NYSE:K). As BusinessWeek says so eloquently, it's "the organic paradox: The movement's adherents have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams, but success has imperiled their ideals."

Not only have ideals been imperiled, but also: profit. See here's the thing.

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Organics are bad for you -- financially originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 07 Nov 2006 14:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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