US blindsided by events in the middle east again - Page 5

Wollishofener · #81 15.02.2011, 23:50

	Quote:	MrVertigo
	For US army, Suez canal is an important route for its 5th & 6th fleet and submarines.

correct of course, but this is the strategic importance, while the poster who mentioned that the Suez-Canal is not so very important for the USA meant the civilian economy

#82 16.02.2011, 03:34

	Quote:	Wollishofener
	correct of course, but this is the strategic importance, while the poster who mentioned that the Suez-Canal is not so very important for the USA meant the civilian economy

Yes, that is what I meant.I have seenotehr stating that it can affect trade ot the US east coast, but basically most say it affects trade to Europe fromthe east or trade in the immediate area. However now I have another question. If the Middle-East successfully becomes democratic will there be a need for large standing armies? For the US, and even Switzerland, the export of arms is a major industry. So I guess share prices might fall?

MrVertigo · #83 21.02.2011, 10:17

Obama's decision to veto the UN resolution declaring the illegality of israeli colonization is just another sign of his own blindness. He should have balls and give back the Nobel peace prize.

grumpygit · #84 21.02.2011, 10:38

	Quote:	Treverus
	Because you do not really need to worry about the price of a bread. I am not at all against investing in commodities - or buy some Syngenta stocks instead. The demographics make sure that over the coming years the prices will at least be stable and therefore probably a safer bet than most other industries. But I am against short term margin trading on some staple foods. If a fund does invest Billions in there, they do not consume the food, they bet on a raising price and only want to cash in the price difference between today and the date of their future. Thanks to the large investment do they in fact raise the price themselves. I hope we can all agree that stock markets are not logical - the prices are a wild mix of facts and emotional guess work. So if enough people believe that the price will go up it does in fact go up - and you do not need a bad harvest at all for that. I could not care less if this happens to frozen orange juice, but I think that the poorest of this world need their bread, rice or tortillas protected from that.

In actual fact the problem this year on grain prices IS supply. We saw drought in russia and ukraine and Kazakhstan, floods in australia and we see huge consumption of corn for ethanol in the US , combine that with the insatiable chinese demand for soyabeans for a wealthier population and you do have the fundamental supply concerns that forces prices higher. The fact that some financial institution speculation has hit the headlines is not the only influence, as those institutions only trade futures contracts, and there are still several elements that influence the final price to the buyer -those elements will always compensate for an exaggerated difference in the futures price. The fact is that several govt institutions including the US and Europe are doing their best to hide the extent of the lack of stocks of grain in particular whilst hoping for increased production this summer. If that doesnt happen and if we have another surprise through climate, then we will see govts closing down exports and then you really will see the big grain importers of this world start to scream. But then if you believe that keeping a whole nation quiet by supplying them with subsidized bread is effective, you will get the old Mubarak heave ho anyway.