Regarding the "agricultural boom," Kevin Kerr notes, "Green Acres is still the place to be." Here, the editor of MarketWatch Global Resources looks at Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM).

Kerr explains, "Our portfolio has already seen some big gains from the agriculture, and we are getting ready to position ourselves for even more gains. How long will the boom last? The honest, albeit unsatisfying, answer is that nobody knows."

The advisor continues, "Growing interest is a good indicator that the grain markets have a good bit of wind at their back. Indicators suggest that we are seeing good momentum in the grain market investment vehicles and likely will for many years to come.

"Meanwhile, there are some key differences about the agricultural trading boom as compared to say the high tech stock frenzy. After all, food, unlike high tech stocks, is not only high in demand; it still remains way undervalued even at current record levels."

With his latest research reports titled "Corn Conundrum" and "Grain Mayhem" a reader might be concerned that the latest ideas from Kevin Kerr are complex agricultural vehicles.

On the contrary, the editor of Marketwarch Global Resources Trader -- who is currently visiting farms and ethanol plants to get a first hand look at the situation -- believes that the investment vehicle of choice within the agricultural market is a farm equipment maker.

Corn and soybeans have rarely been a hot topic among average investors. But with ethanol now on the "front burner," farming has gotten a new-found interest among speculators. Indeed, Kerr is bemused that the financial news recently featured a "countdown clock" when the rather obscure USDA's planting intentions report was released.

He quips, "The latest planting intentions report garnered much fanfare. But a countdown clock? The report was hardly in need of one." And while this report might be of interest to grain traders, Kerr notes that most investors are best focused elsewhere.

He says, "Whatever side of the fence you fall on in the great corn-ethanol debate, one thing remains clear. Farmers have been having some banner years lately and it's almost like a new gold rush. And whether corn surges and soybeans fall or if soybeans rally and corn backs off, farmers still need new equipment."

As a long-term value investor, Kevin Kerr is undeterred by market "noise" and looks beyond the "headlines of gloom and doom" that have been so prominent in the wake of the market setback.

Here, the editor of the Marketwatch Global Resources Trader assesses the pullback, the role of the yen carry-trade, and the reasoning behind a favored China-based stock pick -- Suntech Power Holdings Co., Inc. (NYSE:STP).

"The recent sell-off in commodities was a necessary and, quite frankly, overdue event.All the commodities from grains to gold had swung too far too fast." Indeed, the advisor quips, "As a long-term commodities bull, I can see the lumber through the trees."

Was the carry trade to blame, he asks, as so many pundits have stated? He notes, "Sure it played a role, but it was more like the primer for the pump of pain. Once it got flowing the hysteria took over and that was the real driver."

"It may have been a rough and tumble year for natural gas, but the market is coming back with a vengeance," says Kevin Kerr in his Marketwatch Global Resources newsletter.

The natural gas market has had "an extremely volatile 12 months of trading," he recalls. Both the Amaranth hedge fund trading debacle and the lack of hurricanes over the past season drove the prices to extreme lows.

Now, he says, "All that may be changing as wholesale prices soar." Indeed, natural gas has rallied to a two-month high, coincident with the cold froze in the northern U.S.

According to Kerr, the "Perma-bears" in the natural gas market are discounting the cold weather, stating that it is hitting late in the season. They also are leery of gas inventories that are 21% higher than the average for the past five years.