The soybeans bulls have done it again!

Another new record!

Soybeans have just risen to another new high twice today! We soybean bulls have done it again! This was a $500/contract trade, and I didn't even pick the top or bottom! I got out to early. Price rose to a second new high again after I made this chart.

Long live the soybean! I just love those little things! By the way, they taste good, too! I buy them at Costco all the time.

Seriously, though, one of the reasons that I love trading grains so much is that there is very little Fed or other government intervention in this market.

Government intervention increases market turmoil rather than calms it!

Consider how much turmoil has been created by the Fed, the Treasury, Bernanke, Greenspan, and Hank Paulson in the stock markets in the past few months. They haven't calmed the markets at all. To the contrary, they have added to the turmoil! Financial markets operate best, I believe, with minimal government intervention. Let the free markets work. The markets with the greatest government intervention tend to also be most volatile and tumultuous. How many times in the past few months have Fed actions, taken before the markets opened, caused traders in the stock markets to lose money? (This is one of the good reasons for trading futures rather than stocks -- they trade almost 24 hours!) Government intervention in the financial markets increases market turmoil rather than calms it!

Another reason if prefer to trade soybeans is that (as I have mentioned in past blog posts) soybeans have a larger lock limit than corn or wheat, so they can fluctuate more, with the potential of greater profits. Why trade anything else?

Soybean mini-primer

While soybeans are not really a grain (they are in the legume family, as are the many different beans and peas), they are classed among the grains for we futures traders. In appearance, the look much like peas in a pod. However, the pods are somewhat hairy in appearance.

Note also that when shelled, they also look much like dried peas, but without the wrinkles.

Soybeans are incredibly versatile and nutritious, too. Here in America, few people are aware how much they use soybeans without even realizing it. Additionally, they are the 2nd largest agricultural crop for the United States (corn is 1st). One of the reasons for the bull market in soybeans it that like corn, it is considered a potential source for fuel. Most people have heard of ethanol, which is derived primarily from corn. However, the soybean is also considered to be a good crop for deriving an alternative fuel source.