Grains go for Elevator Ride

Grain elevators full of corn, wheat, and soybeans had a wild week, making a quick price trip up and then back down again. Prices for the three major US commodity crops exploded to multi-month highs on Thursday as fears abounded that the South American corn and soybean crops could fall short of expectations.

The US is still the largest producer of corn and soybeans in the world, but Brazil and Argentina are major exporters onto the global market, making their crops important as well.

Over the past few weeks, prices rose by over 10% as cold, rainy weather threatens to delay the South American grain harvests and political turmoil threatens exports as well.

After the exciting and fortuitous rally, many farmers and investors sold their grain holdings going into the weekend, knocking prices fiercely lower.

Meanwhile, US farmers are gearing up to plant this year's corn crop. This weekend's forecast for warm, sunny, and dry weather should allow farmers to plant up to a quarter of their corn fields by this weekend, and they may begin sowing soybeans in earnest soon.

Silver Shines

Poor man's gold is starting to get more expensive. During April, silver prices rose nearly $3 per ounce, a whopping 20% gain. Prices reached $17.72 on Thursday, the highest price since early 2015.

Silver is being boosted as investors are less fearful of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike. It was once a "sure bet" that the Fed would raise rates to 0.75% or higher by the end of the year; now market watchers put another rate hike at about a 50/50 chance, which is helping pique investor's interest in precious metals.

Silver is often a favorite of small investors as it can be bought in manageable quantities and has a wider variety of uses than gold. While gold is primarily used as a store of wealth, silver has an abundance of applications, as it is the best conductor of heat and electricity, the best reflector of light, and even has antimicrobial properties!