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Sugar - The Next Hedge Fund Ride

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Boom_70, Sep 30, 2009.

  1. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Sugar prices have doubled since April-- most due to speculators throwing millions at futures market - same playbook that drove up oil.

    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/hedge_funds_find_new_sweet_spot_3hmeS0PQb2ndATma3uswIL
     
  2. OnTheRiver

    OnTheRiver Active Member

    http://www.hulu.com/watch/18043/the-simpsons-sugar-thieving-bees
     
  3. Big Circus

    Big Circus Well-Known Member

    First you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women.
     
  4. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

  5. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    Bob Mould should wear his seatbelt?

     
  6. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    There is a global sugar shortage causing this more than anything, not the boogie-speculator who can push prices of a commodity by creating billions of dollars of made-up demand out of thin air. There has been a draught in India and too much rain in Brazil, and it has nailed the crops in the two biggest sugar-producing countries. When supply of something for which there is demand becomes scarce, prices go up. It's common sense. The spot and futures markets might be bubbling -- I don't know -- but there is a fundamental reason sugar has gotten so expensive.
     
  7. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    Cane sugar prices are high due to a cause-and-effect. Corn is still being used to create ethanol. High corn demand hikes the price of high fructose corn syrup and as a result, the demand for sweeteners shifts over to cane sugar, which due to a supply crunch creates its own spike.

    The minute Obama opens up Cuba, the specalators will lose their shirts. So beware.

    Again.
     
  8. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Our government subsdizes corn production in this country, and imposes steep tariffs on the importation of sugar to protect corn growers--who have a lot of political juice with midwest politicians (Obama included, when he was in the Senate). Before the recent shortage, sugar worldwide was a much cheaper sweetener than high-fructose corn-syrup (why it is used just about everywhere else), but our politicians have dictated that we are a high-fructose country by making sugar cost twice as much here as it does elsewhere in the world.

    If we open up Cuba, but keep those tariffs on sugar and subsidies on corn in place, it will have no effect on the price of sugar in the U.S.
     
  9. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    The shortage situation is what creates the perfect storm for the Hedge fund players to exploit.

    Its the exact same pattern they used for electricity / oil/ gold .

    As long as prices are set by futures market and not actual this will continue to happen in commodities.
     
  10. cranberry

    cranberry Well-Known Member

    Don't hate the player....
     
  11. daveevansedge

    daveevansedge Member

    Nice. I love Sugar. Great stuff. Driving up sugar prices? Well, that's not such A Good Idea, I said. I said.
     
  12. GoochMan

    GoochMan Active Member

    Not to mention the effects all that high fructose corn syrup has on our health. Be better to just have the damn sugar, I suspect.
    Would be great to see more subsidies go to fruit and vegetable farmers, but I suspect that money will have to be pried out of the corn farmers cold, dead hands Charlton Heston style.
     
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