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Following the 2008 housing bust, logic would suggest that a more significant increase in mortgage rates might similarly impact home prices and send prices falling. Surprisingly, this is not happening, and the reasons could have far-reaching effects. This is bad news for prospective home buyers who now face a double whammy of rising interest rates […]

Visiting a place like Rome, where history permeates every corner, is truly a remarkable experience. The juxtaposition of ancient columns alongside “modern” apartment buildings and the view of centuries-old defensive walls en route to savor gelato exemplify the captivating allure of this city. However, it is within the magnificent structures such as the Colosseum and […]

Commentary provided by Chad Burlet of Third Street AG Investments The last business day of June always brings the USDA’s release of its June 1 Grain Stocks Report and its Acreage Report. They arguably make it the most important report day of the year. This year’s reports certainly didn’t disappoint, but there were plenty of significant developments […]

There is a common belief that active investors set the pace in the market, while passive indices merely follow their lead. As a result, passive indices can operate with lower fees since they abstain from making subjective judgments about individual companies and instead focus on constructing weights and making necessary adjustments. Given the substantial surge […]

Commentary provided by Chad Burlet of Third Street AG Investments As expected, the weather was the dominant feature this month. In the U.S., corn and soybeans were planted ahead of the average pace, which increases the chance for trendline or better yields. A late-month surge of planting in North Dakota looks to have held prevented planting acres […]

The current headlines include a debt ceiling crisis, inflation issues, rising rates, collapsing home sales, and bank failures piling up at a rate exceeding the 2008 mortgage crisis. With this, the equity market seems nonplussed as it motors along at a pedestrian rate with few days even moving in the 1-2% range, let alone higher. […]

Surging liquidity encouraged by central banks and government stimulus pushed inflation rates to a 40-year high causing surprise to leaders that thought they could support markets without consequence. In a desperate bid to slow these price increases, they are taking a page from the movie industry by removing Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. Not on […]

“When the United States sneezes, the world catches a cold.” This saying reflects the dominance of the US markets, and with it comes the gift of producing the “world’s reserve currency.” However, the rise of digital currencies and competitors to the dominant US dollar is becoming a daily conversation. Governments worldwide desire the benefits that […]

We can always count on the government for a few things, including surprise that their policies led to negative outcomes, fixing those decisions by throwing massive amounts of new money at the problem they created, and finally blaming others for the mess that occurred. Inevitably, “the fix” will cause another issue in the future, but […]

Rising interest rates claimed their first big victim last week. The stunning collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), which was the 16th largest bank in the United States, as recently as last Wednesday took two days of relentless outflows before the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) stepped in to shut them down. The lender, known […]

Commentary provided by Chad Burlet of Third Street AG Investments A handful of key inputs combined make February a bearish month for agricultural futures. Corn, wheat, soybeans, soybean meal, and soybean oil all closed lower for the month. After making their highs mid-month, all the nearby contracts made their lows today, the last day of the month. […]

“A politician’s first goal of governing is to get re-elected. It is also the second goal. Everything else comes after that.” While seemingly trite, this phrase was repeated by my professor throughout my business school class on strategy in non-market environments. I often think about this concept as our leaders consistently make decisions contrary to […]

Empires rise and fall. This often happens slowly and then quickly. In hindsight, we can identify critical events that should have raised alarm bells but did not. So, like asset bubbles that can crash an economy, identifying the next catalyst can be difficult. But perhaps the mounting debt of countries like the United States, most […]