More than 10,000 bid contract orders were filled in less than 10 minutes. Who would want to sell into such a strong buying sentiment? Farmers, perhaps! They may be locking in profits by selling old crop soybeans while prices are strong. They saw prices plunge as recently as last week, and many will want to lock in prices while they are higher.The farmer strike in Argentina is leading to food shortages and is causing soybean sales to be diverted to Brazil and the United States. Argentina is the world's largest exporter of soybean oil and meal, and the third largest exporter of the beans themselves, so the distress in this South American nation has no small impact on global soybean prices. The confrontation between the left-wing government of Argentina (trying to reign in inflation and deal with food shortages), and its farming interests, is becoming more heated by the day. This is keeping sales strong and is supportive of prices, but it is nice to see more balanced trading between buyers and sellers for a change. This is the first day I've seen this kind of balanced give and take for a few weeks!
Hint to Cristina Fernandez in Argentina and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela:
Cristina Fernandez, (new president of Argentina and spouse of the former president, Nestor Kirchner), you are stealing from the middle class farmers that produce your country's primary exports and economic prosperity. A tax increase of 45% will cripple your exports and your economy! You would think you would have learned from the catastrophe created by Chavez in Venezuela. Stealing from your nations' farmers and taxing them exorbitantly won't increase the food supply. It will decrease it, because you create a disincentive to grow and produce more in the first place! Food will end up costing more, not less! Socialists never seem to learn this lesson, and they always punish their people, doing more harm than good, when they attempt to force their will upon everyone else. It would be far better to increase the incentive for their farmers to produce more food through the profit motive, rather than punish them for being productive by imposing heavy taxes and price limitations. What do you think will happen next season if the farmers can't make money selling their product? The farmers will grow less next year, and prices will go even higher! Will these socialist goons never learn? Will their people continue to suffer?
