commodities

First Half 2014 in Review: Melt up!

I've been in the business for almost 17 years now and I can't remember a time when virtually all assets classes went up together. Needless to say these are highly unusual times. If you have investments, you should send a thank you card to the central bankers for their easy monetary policy. The ECB is trying negative rates. The Fed's balance sheet is over $4.3 trillion. The Bank of Japan is buying assets faster than the Fed! While this may not end well, the financial markets are partying like it's 1999. With that said let's take a look back at the first half of 2014.

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Soaring food inflation threatens to derail US growth

In a speech last Wednesday, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said that persistently low inflation poses a more immediate threat to the US economy than rising prices. This is a very curious comment as food inflation has been soaring in 2014 thanks to droughts in California and Latin America as well as the central banks printing presses running hot. Pork, beef and shrimp prices are all hitting all-time highs.

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