TheStreet: China's Steel Producers Choke

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK (The Street) -- China's steel producers seem to have indigestion. It's a sign that things are not quite right in the world's second-largest economy, where steel is used in industries from construction to automobile manufacturing. 

It's as worrying as if your 17-year-old son who usually eats you out of house and home suddenly and inexplicably lost his appetite. For years, China's economy voraciously dined on steel bars for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

To see how that's changing, take a look at the chart showing year-to-year growth for China's steel production, based on data for crude steel output from the World Steel Association. It says the data it collects account for about 98% of global production. China produces about half of that each year. Read more here.

It's Not the Cat's Poop that Makes You Nuts

By SIMON CONSTABLE

News that a so-called "cat poop parasite" causes schizophrenia has me somewhat skeptical. Actually, very skeptical.

At 2 am in the morning when you are trying to get some well-earned shuteye, it is not the cat's poop that wakes you up by punching you in the face. It is the cat.

At 2.15 am it is still the cat and not the cat poop.

At 2.25 am, 2.31 am and 2.46 am, 2.58 am and all the times through when the alarm goes off it is always the cat that wakes you up before she goes back to bed for a nap. It is never the cat poop. 

Sleep deprivation caused by the cat would eventually turn even a psychic muscleman into a psychotic mess, given a long enough time period.

Yes, cats poop. But it's the cat that you love that's driving you nuts, not the cat's poop.

See original post here.

TheStreet:The Reason You Should Worry About Falling Factory Orders Isn't What You Think

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Look out, below: There's a worrying sign in the factory orders data, one that's also somewhat puzzling. 

When you chart the data, it looks even worse. Data reported by the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank shows a dramatic downward trend in new factory orders for consumer goods over the past year. Consumer goods are items that you and I might buy like shoes or hats. It's not industrial machines or aircraft. 

Read more here.

WSJ: What Are Frontier Markets?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Most investors know about emerging markets like Mexico or Brazil. Lesser known are the so-called frontier markets such as Argentina, Pakistan, Botswana, Ukraine and Vietnam.

As far as economic development, frontier markets are at the bottom of the heap, says Win Thin, global head of emerging markets at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York. “Typically they are poorer countries, but they are on the way up.” Read more here.

Pakistan's Flag

Photo by Burhan Ahmad on Unsplash

Barron's: Rice Prices May Soar

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Observers of the rice market worry that there could be a repeat of the food crisis of 2008. If there is, prices could soar from current depressed levels.

In 2007-08, a combination of export restrictions from major rice-producing countries and speculative investment purchases caused shortages of the grain. Consumers across Asia panicked, buying and hoarding whatever rice was available, while Haiti saw riots.

In the U.S., certain grocery stores limited rice purchases.

As the supply situation worsened, prices catapulted to more than $24 per hundred pounds by April 2008, from about $13 near Thanksgiving 2007.

This time, prices have been on an almost continuous slide for the past 17 months, discouraging growers even as demand increases. Rice is trading around $10 per hundred pounds, down nearly 40% from the end of 2013.

“Current levels of supply against demand are very similar” to the food crises of 1972-74 and 2006-08, says Shawn Hackett in a recent edition of the Hackett Money Flow Report.

The stocks-to-trade ratio, a measure of how much rice is in storage relative to how much is shipped around the globe, is 225%, a tad lower than the 233% seen in 2007-08 when prices started to surge, according to the Firstgrain Rice Market Strategist newsletter. The lower ratio means smaller stockpiles.

“Rice production is projected at a new record,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported in May. But “consumption is forecast to surpass production for the third year in a row, drawing down stocks to the lowest since 2007-08.” 

Read more here.

TheStreet: If Apple CEO Isn't Losing Sleep Over Greece, You Shouldn't Either

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK (The Street) -- Greek drama alert: The country by the Aegean Sea is supposed to repay 300 million euros to the International Monetary Fund Friday. 

Will it? Who knows. But that question is at the center of a media-led drama that's playing out as if the future of the world depended on it.  

Should you be worried? Unless you have lent the Greek government money, probably not. Here are seven reasons why: 

1. Is Greece a vital iPhone market? Regardless of how many iPhones, or similar products, Apple sells in Greece, it's unlikely the company is betting the farm on that market, or even that CEO Tim Cook loses sleep over it. And as Apple (APPL) goes, so goes the market. It is Apple's earnings that will, in part, drive what happens to major indices such as the S&P 500. Sales of its products in Greece aren't likely to move the needle on that front. It probably doesn't matter a whole lot to other companies like General Motors (GM) or Facebook (FB) or Twitter (TWTR) either. For more click here.

Photo by iSAW Company on Unsplash

TheStreet: Watch Grain Markets and Monsanto for Price Gains From Ukraine Crisis

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The world's eyes are yet again on Ukraine, as fighting in eastern provinces intensifies and Russian and U.S. military forces stare each other down in the Black Sea. 

So what is an investor to do? Start by forgetting Ukraine's natural gas pipeline to Europe: The effects of the conflict will more likely play out in the world grain markets.

First, the gas worries, which may be little more than hot air. Yes, the European Union does import a lot of gas from Russia, but less than previously. At year-end the total was around 9 billion cubic feet a day down from close to 14 billion at the beginning of 2011, according to estimates from the Energy Policy Research Foundation.

See full story here.