Best Of The Best Share Discussion Threads

[ignoble] 08/3/2010 22:07

If you can , buy your veg etc. from Farm Shops , Local Greengrocers & the like !
The other bonus is that you don't get all the ruddy supermarket packaging to dispose of !
If only it was that simple ...

[chestnuts] 08/3/2010 18:30

trader
their is no middle man between supermarkets and farmers its the supermarkets strangling the farmers, if i was the farmers i would form a cooperative who they sold to at an higher price and then the supermarkets would have no option but to pay more. but at the moment the farmers are individual and the big supermatkets work in tandem, which is illegal but it happens.

[traderabc] 08/3/2010 17:28

Sounds terrible 049balt. What surprises me is that we don't see these 'low prices' in the supermarkets, the implication being that the middle men between farmers and the public are profiteering richly from this miserable situation.
I don't know how feasible it would be but if I was in your industry I'd be trying to bypass those middle men and get my produce to the consumer more directly.

[049balt] 08/3/2010 17:11

Farming today.



Following the longest and most severe winter in decades and sustained loss making milk, beef, pig and grain prices, the IFA President John Bryan said the income and cash flow crisis on tens of thousands of farms all over the country is at breaking point.

John Bryan called on beef, dairy and pig processors to immediately secure increases across all commodity prices to help alleviate the crisis. In addition, he said input costs must be reduced dramatically. The IFA President again called on the banks to support farm families by extending credit to get them through this critical period.

John Bryan said the combined impact of bad weather, fodder difficulties, higher costs and loss making prices had squeezed the finances of farm families dry.

The IFA President said unless there is an immediate turnaround with an increase in commodity prices, the productive agricultural sector will be permanently damaged with the prospect of thousands of farmers at risk of going broke. He said such a development will involve wide spread economic fall out across rural Ireland and the economy.

John Bryan said, "the Government had a major responsibility to ensure that the banks provide credit and cash flow funds to farmers, co-ops and merchants to get the hugely important agriculture sector through this income crisis. The Government must also act to reduce bureaucracy and costs." He called on the Government to reverse the draconian and unfair carbon tax imposition.

Mr Bryan said the Government cutbacks in agriculture over the last 18 months were having a very severe impact on the incomes of farm families. He said the Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith must ensure that all outstanding REPS payments are paid out immediately. In addition, the Minister must bring forward a meaningful new REPS scheme, which provides average payments of at least €5,000, for those farmers who have finished REPS 3 contracts.

The IFA President said the stark reality of the economic situation at farm level is that farm incomes fell by 30% in 2009, on top of a reduction of 12% in 2008. Milk prices fell by 31%, beef prices were back 11%, pig prices fell by 9.5% and grain prices collapsed by 29%, according to the latest CSO statistics.

John Bryan said the collapse in commodity prices has inflicted a major income crisis at farm level. He said commodity prices have to rise as farmers cannot continue to produce at below the cost of production.
Return

[traderabc] 08/3/2010 11:59

What is your opinion of the warehouse purchase by GS & JPM?



It's news to me c2i, instinctively I don't like it simply because of the involvement of GS & JPM. I have no idea what the significance or implications will be.

[contrarian2investor] 08/3/2010 11:31

Hi traderabc,

I like your contrarian article.

What is your opinion of the warehouse purchase by GS & JPM?

The purchase below is a very serious issue in my view and further adds to the stranglehold within the metals trading complex. This time on the LME, the question is how come no-one objected to it? Talk about monopolising the trading space.

Goldman and JPMorgan enter metal warehousing
By Javier Blas in London

Published: March 2 2010 19:14

As piles of base metals from aluminium to nickel build up due to poor demand, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have entered the little known but very profitable business of metal warehousing. The deals reflect banks' appetite for exposure to physical commodities beyond traditional commodities derivatives.

Stockpiles at London Metal Exchange's registered depots surge to an all-time high of 6m tonnes – up from 1m in 2007. Traders and bankers say warehousing is a classic "anti-cyclical" business as it flourishes when demand for metals is lacklustre and stockpiles mount.

c2i

[traderabc] 08/3/2010 11:18

Brits, Who Already Pay 17.5% VAT, Face New Tax On Food


James Hall
London Telegraph
Sunday, March 7, 2010

The imposition of VAT on groceries is being actively considered by Whitehall officials as a radical means of reducing the national deficit.

The feasibility of introducing the food tax is being raised informally between civil servants, industry bodies and retail insiders.

So politically-sensitive is the move that all the talks are occurring “under the radar”, according to retail industry insiders.

[traderabc] 07/3/2010 15:08

What’s More Important:
Price Per Ounce or Ounces Owned?
- The Casey Files - by Jeff Clark
Editor, Casey’s Gold & Resource Report
March 5, 2010

In a recent conversation with a fellow gold analyst, he was emphatic that the price one pays for physical gold should be ignored. “What’s far more important,” he insisted, “is how many ounces I own in relation to the total value of my assets.”

Building a core position in gold bullion is a smart goal, to be sure, and a strategy Casey Research has been advising for years. However, ignoring the price you pay for gold could be seen as foolhardy; sure, it’s insurance, but isn’t price part of the consideration when you shop for insurance?

So, who’s right?

[traderabc] 07/3/2010 15:06

How to be a Contrarian Investor
by Hans Wagner, TradingOnlineMarkets.com | March 4, 2010


“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect.”
– Mark Twain


Contrarian investors believe that following the crowd leads to losses and missed opportunities. When the crowd reacts to news or speculation about a stock or the market, the price can rise of fall so far, that has mis-priced the value of the company or the market.

For example, a company finds it must recall a product due to a design or manufacturing problem. The recall causes widespread pessimism about the company and drives the price of the stock to new lows. The problem is real though the perception of the value of the stock is misplaced. Contrarian investors recognize these situations as opportunities. Once the selling is over and the company puts in place the necessary actions to correct the problem, the price recovers. Any investors who bought shares when the problem was at its worst, realize above average gains.

[traderabc] 06/3/2010 08:59

On the Edge with Max Keiser - 05 March 2010 - (1/3)



2/3


3/3

[traderabc] 05/3/2010 20:39

Nobel Prize-Winning Economist: Federal Reserve System is Corrupt and Undermines Democracy


Washington’s Blog
March 5, 2010
Joseph Stiglitz – former head economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a nobel-prize winner – said yesterday that the very structure of the Federal Reserve system is so fraught with conflicts that it is “corrupt”; and undermines democracy.

Stiglitz said:

If we [i.e. the IMF] had seen a governance structure that corresponds to our Federal Reserve system, we would have been yelling and screaming and saying that country does not deserve any assistance, this is a corrupt governing structure.

[traderabc] 05/3/2010 20:36

Faber: It’s Dead Simple, The Supply Of Dollars Will Grow Way Faster Than The Supply Of Gold


Vincent Fernando
Business Insider
March 5, 2010

Marc Faber’s recommendation to continue buying gold every month, forever, received a full broadside on CNBC.

[traderabc] 05/3/2010 19:52

3/4/10 Peter Schiff on CNBC's Fast Money: Own Gold Forever?

[traderabc] 05/3/2010 19:50

Jim Rogers "Obama,Geitner destroying America"

[traderabc] 04/3/2010 19:56

A sign of the times?



Fake Shop Fronts Replace Shut Down Businesses


Sky News
March 4, 2010

A smart delicatessen that caters only for window shoppers has sprung up in a Tyneside town after the council decided to put up fake shop fronts to cover empty units.



The imaginary business is the first of a string of facades intended to be unveiled in Whitley Bay high street, where the impact of the recession has left nearly one in five shops vacant.

North Tyneside Council is trialling the window dressing in an attempt to attract new business to the struggling town centre.

“The economic climate has forced many businesses to bring down the shutters,” said the Council’s deputy mayor Judith Wallace.

[traderabc] 04/3/2010 19:30

Keiser Report №22: Markets! Finance! Scandal!

Stacy Summary: This week we look at the scandals behind: “the owner of Great Britain” bouncing a $54 million check for a pile of dirt in the Persian Gulf; a currency speculator in Monaco moving currency markets with an “accidental Jim Rogers press release” while Colonel Gaddafi calls for jihad against Switzerland and receives zero market impact; and Alan Greenspan wins major award for causing global financial markets to explode. Keiser also talks to David DeGraw about his new book, “The Economic Elite versus the People of the United States of America.”

[traderabc] 04/3/2010 09:24

More unloved than even Mugabe’s dollar
David Wighton: Business Editor’s Commentary


It says something about your currency when foreign exchange dealers are even prepared to swap it for the Zimbabwean dollar. Yet this was the pitiful fate of sterling yesterday as it suffered its biggest rout on the currency markets for more than a year.

Apart from the pastings received at the hands of the US dollar and the euro, sterling also fell by more than 1.7 per cent against Zimbabwe’s much-mocked paper, completing a decline of more than 7 per cent since the end of January.

Some economists are convinced that this could be the start of a sterling rout, with investors losing confidence in Britain’s resolve to tackle the gaping hole in its public finances.

[traderabc] 03/3/2010 20:51

Webster Tarpley George Soros is taking down the Euro

[traderabc] 02/3/2010 23:09

Keiser Report №21: Markets! Finance! Scandal!

[traderabc] 02/3/2010 23:05

CrossTalk: Soviet Amerika


Youtube
March 2, 2010

On Peter Lavelle’s CrossTalk his guests are asked whether the US is following the historic path that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

[traderabc] 02/3/2010 22:52

Faber: The Euro Has More To Fall, S&P Could Fall 20%


Joe Weisenthal
Business Insider
March 2, 2010

Marc Faber appeared on Bloomberg today to talk stocks and currencies. Not surprisingly, he’s negative on US equities, and though he thinks the euro could rebound in the short-term (because it’s so oversold) he says there’s nothing good about the currency and that it could fall a lot further.

[traderabc] 02/3/2010 22:08

Gold: Feeling the Feelings

Stewart Thomson
email: [e-mail]
Mar 2, 2010

1. Goldman Sachs, Barclays bank, and HSBC bank are each predicting gold takes out the highs at $1225 and does so this year. So are analysts at other major banks. The public likes to listen to “respectedR21; analysts. Are they listening to what Goldman Sachs, Barclays, HSBC and a number of other major banks are saying?

[traderabc] 02/3/2010 21:58

Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Jim Rogers Is Taking Your Questions Online



Ask Jim Rogers a question

Do you want to ask Jim Rogers a question ? the Investment guru and Cofounder of the Quantum Fund Jim Rogers is now taking YOUR questions on

[traderabc] 02/3/2010 08:55

A quick tour of hyperinflation and the possible consequences for America

By John Silveira





"No one can predict the future," I heard a voice say as I walked into the offices of Backwoods Home Magazine. The speaker went on to add, "But there are a lot of reasons to believe we are in danger of entering a period of hyperinflation of the dollar."

I hesitated because I knew the voice and I followed it to Dave Duffy's office. Dave's the guy who publishes this magazine. But the speaker I was hearing was none other than our poker-playing friend from Southern California, O.E. MacDougal.

I walked into Dave's office and there was the pair of them, Dave and Mac, drinking wine and talking. After greeting me, their conversation seemed to drift to the subject of the steelhead that were making their way up the Rogue River just north of town. But I wanted them to get back to what I'd heard them discussing when I first came in. So I cut in.

"Hey, I heard you saying something about hyperinflation. I know I've seen references to it on the Net, but what exactly is it?"

Before Mac could answer, Dave interjected, "Inflation is when prices go up, hyperinflation is when they go up beyond all reason."