Get ready for higher food prices.
With Russia pushing deeper into its war, Ukraine farmlands may not be harvested or cultivated this year. That’s a major problem once you consider Ukraine is the second largest shipper for grains, and the biggest exporter of sunflower oil, as noted by Zero Hedge. All of that production is critical for global food supply. Cut it off, and we’re screwed.
Even the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN just warned, “The vast destruction of crops and infrastructure due to the war jeopardizes food production and food security.”
All of that could easily boost food prices all over the world.
As noted by Fox News, farmer Ben Neal says, “We’re getting hit on every front on every expense possible, from fertilizer to fuel to labor insurance, everything in between — our packing supplies. I think that that will soon be reflected at the grocery stores. On top of what we’re already seeing, these fertilizer price increases haven’t really affected the grocery store prices yet. They will start coming this summer.”
Until it’s resolved, investors may want to look at fertilizer stocks, for example.
Some of the top stocks to consider include Nutrien (NTR), CF Industries (CF), The Mosaic Company (MOS), Intrepid Potash (IPI), and the VanEck Vectors Agribusiness ETF.
Markets
- The Dow is up 116 points to 34,956
- The S&P 500 up about 15 points to 4,473.75
- The NASDAQ is up 49 points to 14,266.75
- Gold prices are down slightly to $1,949.59
- Bitcoin is up about 2.8% to $42,009.05
- Oil prices are up $1.44 to $104
- The VIX is down 1.85 points to 20.32
Trading Tips
It may be tempting to buy the Netflix (NFLX) falling knife, but avoid it.
For those of you unaware of the term, a falling knife refers to a crashing stock. Inexperienced investors will often try to catch the falling knife, only to get cut, and lose money. Instead, what you want to do is allow the stock to find its bottom, and wait for confirmation of potential trend change. Never try to catch a falling knife, no matter what others say.
Unfortunately for NFLX, the pain may last a while.
All after the company reported its first subscriber loss in about 10 years. Just yesterday, the company said it lost 200,000 subscribers in Q1 2022, and warned of further troubles ahead.
“Our revenue growth has slowed considerably,” the company said, as quoted by CNBC. “Streaming is winning over linear, as we predicted, and Netflix titles are very popular globally. However, our relatively high household penetration — when including the large number of households sharing accounts — combined with competition, is creating revenue growth headwinds.”