Major Newspapers Chime In On Food Shortage.
 

The New York Times recently wrote...

Food prices are already rising here much faster than the returns you are likely to get from keeping your money in a bank or money-market fund. And there are very good reasons to believe prices on the shelves are about to start rising a lot faster.

"Load up the pantry," says Manu Daftary, one of Wall Street's top investors and the manager of the Quaker Strategic Growth mutual fund. "I think prices are going higher. People are too complacent. They think it isn't going to happen here. But I don't know how the food companies can absorb higher costs."

The latest data show cereal prices rising by more than 8% a year. Both flour and rice are up more than 13%. Milk, cheese, bananas and even peanut butter: They're all up by more than 10%. Eggs have rocketed up 30% in a year. Ground beef prices are up 4.8% and chicken by 5.4%.

You can't easily stock up on perishables like eggs or milk. But other products will keep. Among them: Dried pasta, rice, cereals, and cans of everything from tuna fish to fruit and vegetables. The kicker: You should also save money by buying them in bulk.

If this seems a stretch, ponder this: The emerging bull market in agricultural products is following in the footsteps of oil. A few years ago, many Americans hoped $2 gas was a temporary spike. Now it's the rosy memory of a bygone age.

The Wall Street Journal recently wrote....

Many parts of America, long considered the breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a once unthinkable phenomenon : Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal reports that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks.

At a Costco Warehouse in Mountain View, Calif., yesterday, shoppers grew frustrated and occasionally uttered expletives as they searched in vain for the large sacks of rice they usually buy.

"Where's the rice?" an engineer from Palo Alto, Calif., Yajun Liu, said. "You should be able to buy something like rice. This is ridiculous."

"There have been so many stories about worldwide shortages that it encourages people to stock up. What most people don't realize is that supply chains have changed, so inventories are very short," Mr.Rawles , a former Army intelligence officer, said. "Even if people increased their purchasing by 20%, all the store shelves would be wiped out."

An anonymous high-tech professional writing on an investment Web site, Seeking Alpha, said he recently bought 10 50-pound bags of rice..."I am concerned that when the news of rice shortage spreads, there will be panic buying and the shelves will be empty in no time. I do not intend to cause a panic, and I am not speculating on rice to make profit. I am just hoarding some for my own consumption," he wrote.

The Washington Times recently wrote....

Farmers and food executives appealed fruitlessly to federal officials yesterday for regulatory steps to limit speculative buying that is helping to drive food prices higher. Meanwhile, some Americans are stocking up on staples such as rice, flour and oil in anticipation of high prices and shortages spreading from overseas.

Community Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)....regulators said high prices are mostly the result of soaring world demand for grains combined with high fuel prices and drought-induced shortages in many countries.

Costco and other grocery stores in California reported a run on rice, which has forced them to set limits on how many sacks of rice each customer can buy. Filipinos in Canada are scooping up all the rice they can find and shipping it to relatives in the Philippines, which is suffering a severe shortage that is leaving many people hungry.

While farmers here and abroad generally are benefiting from the high prices, even they have been burned by a tidal wave of investors and speculators pouring into the futures markets for corn, wheat, rice and other commodities and who are driving up prices in a way that makes it difficult for farmers to run their businesses.

U.S. wheat stocks are at the lowest levels in 60 years because worldwide consumption of wheat has exceeded production in six of the past eight years, said U.S. Agriculture Department chief economist GeraldBange . Adding to tight supplies was the back-to-back failure of two years of wheat crops caused by drought in Australia, a major wheat exporter, he said.

In addition, the diversion of one-third of the U.S. corn crop into making ethanol for vehicles has increased prices for corn and other staples such as soybeans and cotton as more acreage is set aside for ethanol production.

The upswing in prices has been exaggerated by the massive influx of investors and speculators seeking to profit from rising prices for corn, wheat, oil, gold and other commodities. Big Wall Street firms and hedge funds have taken huge positions in futures markets that once were dominated by relatively small operators such as farmers and grain-elevator owners.

Re: Wall Street Warns Americans To Begin Stockpili
 

D4T, how credible is this author, Darryl Mason?

Re: Wall Street Warns Americans To Begin Stockpili
 

The author himself holds no particular credibility.

I was going to simply post the quotes from the New York Times & the Wall Street Journal but I cannot provide links to those quotes and that can get one an infraction around these parts.

The rest of the article is his take on these quotes and can be taken or left behind but a good portion of the article are simply quotes from the Wall Street Journal and the subject of the article is about what WSJ is stating.

I certainly offer no endorsement of this particular individual... I just find it interesting to read some of the things that are being printed in the WSJ and the guidelines at AFF prevent me from simply providing the quotes alone without an ability to provide a link to them.

I have received one infraction on this forum... and it was for not providing source information.

Re: Wall Street Warns Americans To Begin Stockpili
 

I believe all you have to do is give credit to the WSJ, right?

I think the material from the WSJ is alarming enough without this author's commentary. He sorta sounds like a loon.:reaction

Re: Wall Street Warns Americans To Begin Stockpili
 

I will edit down to the quotes.... but... If I get an infraction... the blood is on your hands. :)

Thanks for the info.... as long as it is true. :)

Re: Major Newspapers Chime In On Food Shortage.
 

The article makes PERFECT SENSE. If you read news other than main stream media you see there are food shortages all over the world. Food is going up just like gas.

If one could afford to do so NOW it would be great to buy at the present price than to pay the higher prices of tomorrow.

Fox News had a guy on this morning who was supposed to refute what this article writer said which they called "hoarding".

You know what his great wisdom as to why YOU should not stock up now? Heres what he said.

WE DONT WANT TO LOOK LIKE A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY!

Can you imagine the eliteism?

It might make the MIGHTY AMERICA look bad if you store up food in advance! That he said is why you should not!

Hey these elite rich folks dont have to be concerned about the PRICE of food. They can afford it just like gas. Its nothing to them. To pay 10.00 a gallon more is a drop in the bucket to those with big money. Likewise with food. They are not worried about PRICE but they are worried about AVAILABILITY.

In other words if we the poor or lower middle class decide its to our advantage to buy now while prices are lower it may hurt their opportunity to get food when it suits them.

Yes food shortages are already here or large Stores would not already be limiting amounts you can buy.