Redstate

Posted at 4:16am on Feb. 26, 2008 Wheat Prices Hit Record Highs

something's going on in here

By blackhedd

As I was doing my post-market data scan on Monday afternoon, I stopped short to notice what had happened in trading of wheat futures on exchanges in the Midwest. In after-hours trading in Chicago, Minneapolis and Kansas City (where different varieties of wheat trade), prices were limit-up across the board. Some contracts were up 8 percent on the day.

Most wheat varieties have been going for about $10 a bushel, give or take, in recent weeks. Today in Minneapolis, hard-red spring wheat for March delivery traded at nearly $25 a bushel. This contract was going for $8 three months ago.

(March is the front-month, so there's no daily limit on its price movements. A bushel of wheat or soybeans is 60 pounds. A bushel of corn is 56 pounds.)

This is totally wicked market action in a commodity that a year ago was trading for roughly half the price it is now. As I mentioned in a brief RedHot the other night, food prices will be the major wild card, or uncertain factor, in the global economy this year, and well worth your attention.

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