Cool Information (Sept. 23, 2012)

Cool Information

As elaborated in my other two blog entries, the USDA monthly reports on crop production is a wonderful source of information, in my opinion. It not only tells you the current situation but also contains extensive information on the historical patterns on many crops in its archives, allowing browsers to draw comparisons and make keen observations. Therefore, I recommend – and most of you must have done that already – to go through the USDA website at least once before starting your blog entries to get a brief idea on how the crop/commodity you are looking for is doing in the US market. Secondly, I came across this learning center website named future trading charts (http://futures.tradingcharts.com/), which sheds light on technical jargon, which we often use in agric-economics circles. For instance, I was directed to this website while searching for the term ‘stocks-to-use ratio’, which Jim mentioned briefly in his lecture. And, I found that this website not only provides a very cogent explanation of the terms but also provides pointers on how to read these terms when presented with data. In this case, the website provided me an easy to understand explanation, as well, the benchmark stock–to–use ratios which economists and policy makers use when taking vital steps like subsidy programs, etc.,

References:

http://futures.tradingcharts.com/

http://www.usda.gov/oce/commodity/wasde/