FUTURES FILE: Soybeans shoot higher

Walt Breitinger Times Business Columnist

Although U.S. farmers are expecting to harvest a large soybean crop this fall, the current supply of soybeans in storage is running low, lifting prices higher.

Coffee prices buzz higher

Walt Breitinger

Coffee prices have climbed for seven consecutive days, rising nearly 16 cents per pound (12 percent).

FUTURES FILE: Chilly temps chase wheat higher

Walt Breitinger Times Business Columnist

Unseasonably cold weather struck across the Great Plains this week, bringing snow and freezing temperatures to major wheat producing regions.

FUTURES FILE: Spring fever helps beef demand

Walt Breitinger Times Business Columnist

Crave a cook-out? Americans who have been hankering for a hamburger may finally get their chance to roll out the grill and release their pent-up demand for beef, pork and chicken.

FUTURES FILE: Cold, rain slows planting of grain

Walt Breitinger Times Business Columnist

Cool, wet weather across much of the Midwest is plaguing farmers who are unable to plant their corn crop into soggy, cold soil.

FUTURES FILE: Gold takes a Cyprus hit

Walt Breitinger Times Business Columnist

On Friday, gold collapsed to the lowest level since 2011, pressured lower by expectations that Cyprus may be forced into selling a portion of its gold holdings.

FUTURES FILE: Gasoline prices slashed

By Matthew Saltanovitz

Gasoline futures dropped nearly 25 cents (7.7 percent) per gallon this week, falling to the lowest level since late January.

FUTURES FILE: USDA Report Shows More Grain

Walt Breitinger Times Business Columnist

A quarterly USDA grain stocks report released midday Thursday caused a downward correction in the grain markets, showing larger stockpiles of corn, wheat and soybeans than had been anticipated.

FUTURES FILE: Cyprus crisis keeps Euro in flux

Walt Breitinger Times Business Columnist

The banking system in Cyprus continues to totter near collapse as Cypriot banks try to figure out a way to make up for deep losses they suffered by investing customer deposits in Greek bonds.

FUTURES FILE: Orange juice market shines

Walt Breitinger Times Business Columnist

Orange juice prices leaped higher recently as outlooks for the Florida orange crop continue to shrink due to poor weather and crop disease.

FUTURES FILE: Copper melts lower

Walt Breitinger Times Business Columnist

Over the last decade, relatively high prices and expectations for rising Chinese demand led to significant investments in copper mining.

FUTURES FILE: Cattle weights clipped by storms

Walt Breitinger Times Business Columnist

Severe winter storms continued this week across the Great Plains, with cold weather expected to slash animal weights.

FUTURES FILE: Soybeans shoot higher

Walt Breitinger Times Business Columnist

Soybean prices rallied sharply this week as global demand for U.S. soybeans picked up. The United States is a major soybean exporter, second only to Brazil.

FUTURES FILE: Cattle slip lower

Walt Breitinger Times Business Columnist

Cattle prices tumbled to four-month lows this week as large supplies weighed on the market.

FUTURES FILE: USDA crop report confirms tight supplies

Walt Breitinger Times Business Columnist

The USDA released its monthly estimate of grain supply and demand on Friday.

Corn pops under Argentine heat

Walt Breitinger Times Columnist

On Friday, corn reached the highest price since early December, climbing to more than $7.46 per bushel. Prices rallied as the market grew more concerned about hot and dry weather in Argentina threatening that nation’s crop. Argentina is the w…

FUTURES FILE: Gasoline explodes skyward

Walt Breitinger Times Business Columnist

Unleaded gasoline futures leaped higher this week, reaching a three-month high on Thursday. Prices for wholesale gasoline, which excludes taxes and other expenses, reached as high as $2.87 per gallon, up 7 cents per gallon (2.5 percent) durin…

FUTURES FILE: Energy markets shocked higher

Walt Breitinger Times Business Columnist

Crude oil, gasoline and natural gas rallied sharply this week on the heels of bullish news.

FUTURES FILE: Rice poised to rebound?

Walt Breitinger Times Business Columnist

Corn, wheat and soybeans are the headline-grabbing grains for most U.S. commodities traders, who largely ignore rice.

FUTURES FILE: Orange juice prices sour

By Walt Breitinger Times Business Columnist

Orange juice prices fell this week as better weather across Florida increased hopes for a robust orange crop this year.

A look back at corn's tumultuous year

Walt Breitinger Times Columnist

Corn prices made a record high this year as drought ravaged crops across the Midwest. Despite the fact that farmers planted the most acres of corn since 1937, this year’s corn crop was relatively small due to drought-induced low yields. As co…

Trains carrying more oil across U.S. amid boom

Josh Funk and Matthew Brown Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. | Energy companies behind the oil boom on the Northern Plains are increasingly turning to an industrial-age workhorse — the locomotive — to move their crude to refineries across the U.S., as plans for new pipelines stall and e…

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