In this episode of The Derivative, Jeff Malec sits down with Jeff Apel, principal at Wharton Capital Management, to dive deep into the current cattle market. With beef prices hitting near-record highs, Apel shares his extensive experience from the trading floor to today’s futures markets, explaining the complex dynamics behind rising meat prices. From drought […]
Category: Commodities and Ag Markets
28
Jul
2025
Beef Is the New Egg? Why Meat Prices Are Skyrocketing
Posted by RCM Ag Services Grocery shoppers are feeling the heat, and this time, it’s not just from the grill. Beef prices have climbed to new highs in 2025, becoming the latest symbol of inflation and supply chain strain. What’s behind the surge? A historically small U.S. cattle herd, years of poor feed yard margins, […]
09
Mar
2022
Why don’t Futures Market Blow Ups…Blow Up The Futures Markets?
A Chinese tycoon can’t meet the margin on $2 Billion in Nickel losses, so what happens next? Well, here’s a look at the move in Nickel over on the LME (London Metals Exchange) that has everyone talking: And here’s the scoop about a Chinese “tycoon” being unable to meet Billions in margin calls: Xiang Guangda, […]
10
Dec
2021
8 ½ Ways to Invest in Commodities
Have you ever heard of the saying, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket?” Well, any savvy investor knows this saying goes for maximizing your investment goals. Commodities, which are often overlooked, can make attractive trades when diversifying your portfolio. Don’t know where to begin? No worries, here’s eight and a half ways you […]
29
Oct
2021
Ghost Your Ghastly Eyes On These Happenings
This Halloween, we reached beyond the veil and summoned the investment market. While everyone may be talking about @Facebook’s new company name @Meta — we wanted to highlight a few industry hot topics that will leave you saying, “BOO” ya. Let’s take a closer look at these happenings below: Bitcoin ETFs If you haven’t seen […]
26
Oct
2021
Inflation, Commodities and Trend Following Field Guide
We used to track bond king Jeff Gundlach’s investment calls from time to time – see here and here, and didn’t miss a good Gundlach macguffin…especially when he’s talking our world of commodities. Here’s Gundlach, via Markets Insider talking today’s environment in commodities: “Commodities are unbelievably strong. But for the fact that they haven’t had […]
14
Oct
2021
Weigh More than You Wanted to Know About Meat, with AgriTrend’s Simon Quilty
In this week’s pod, we’re doing something new and digging into the derivative market’s Ag roots in our first “Way more than you need to Know” series, starting with the Global Meat Markets. Joining us today discussing all things Meat in the world is Simon Quilty, from Melbourne, Australia, and also RCM’s very own Jeff […]
12
Oct
2021
ESG causing Europe’s Energy Issues?
If you haven’t noticed what’s happening in the energy markets of late- oil and natural gas are on a bit of a tear this year, especially over in Europe, where they’ve been a bit more aggressive politically in their embrace and enforcement of ESG protocols and mandates. Even good old-fashioned West Texas Crude Oil isn’t […]
08
Sep
2021
Asset Class Scoreboard: August 2021
Welcome to the dog days of summer… unless you’re U.S. equity markets, which again posted a new all-time high. That’s seven months in a row of relatively straight-up action for equities. When will it end and How will it end? are the questions on everyone’s mind. Elsewhere, Commodities took a little hiatus, along with bonds […]
02
Sep
2021
Options to Trend Following, and Back Again with Scot Billington of Covenant Cap.
We jump back into some VIX and Volatility discussion with this week’s episode but also get to talk about trend following’s rise and fall (and rise again?) over the past decade. We’ve got Scot Billington, the co-founder and managing partner of Covenant Capital Mgmt., talking through his unique journey from futures broker to floor trader […]
