| Corn Bear Market Spurs Double-Your-Money Bet for Goldman, Funds
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicts a rebound that will turn $10 million into $18.15 million by the time Iowa farmers harvest their crop in October. Krom River Partners LLP and the Mother Earth Investment AG fund are so certain a recovery is imminent they're buying corn during the current rout. ``You're going to need as much corn in the ground as possible to fill demand for ethanol,'' said Krom River's Christopher Brodie in London, who has traded commodities for 20 years. He bought corn for his hedge fund on April 2, the second straight day the Chicago Board of Trade imposed trading limits to prevent prices from collapsing. Brokers and traders at the Board of Trade are betting $60 billion in futures and options on whether farmers can reap the record harvest needed for ethanol, corn syrup, livestock feed and breakfast cereal.
What's Happening At Western Fair
When the numbers had settled from the first quarter of 2007 at Western Fair Raceway, more of the record setting trends for trainer and driver earnings started in 2006 were continuing. Through the end of March, Western Fair's leading driver Brad Forward had amassed over $505,000 in purses on the strength of 75 wins. This puts Forward and Trevor Henry on an earnings pace to surpass 2006 when they became the first two reinsmen to surpass $1 million in a single calendar year in the London track's history. Paul Taylor sits atop the trainer's standings from the first quarter of 2007 on the strength of 23 wins from 87 starters for $120,000 in purses. Taylor is the track's two-time defending training champion and accomplished the first million-dollar earnings year from his stable in 2006.
Reggie Bush Banned From Playboy Mansion
This is very, very thin on the details, but when you hear that a professional athlete has been banned from the Playboy Mansion because of a "conduct violation," you take what you can get. Bush's banishment from Hef's mansion was reported by Southern California sports guru Scott Wolf:Our spies tell us former USC tailback Reggie Bush is persona non grata at the Playboy Mansion because of a conduct violation. And no, it was nothing involving a Playmate.That's the full report. What was Bush's violation? If it didn't involve a Playmate, it's probably not as interesting as you're hoping. We do know that Bush is dating Ciara, and that he appeared in her "Like a Boy" video. That's about all I can tell you about Bush's personal life, but maybe Yahoo sports will launch into a more vigorous investigation.
Heaven on earth
Seek out your local nurseries to find plants grown with love and for pitifully little profit. The RHS offers two useful services online at rhs.org.uk. If you have seen a plant you like, and want to know where to find one, you can look it up on the RHS Plant Finder : it lists more than 70,000 plants, stocked by 720 nurseries. If you are after a category, such as climbers or drought-tolerant plants, the Nursery Finder will list the relevant specialist nurseries in your region. Many nurseries have demonstration gardens, so a visit will not only buy you a better plant at a better price, but may suggest some new planting ideas for your own garden. .
Investing in Brazil: After the Hot Flashes
Mark Turner submits: Brazil has been a hot item for a few years now. Normally it is internal issues that produce setbacks in the market. These are issues over elections more often than not. A perpetual bugbear, ironically enough, was the fear that Lula would get elected. Then he finally gets elected and it is like there is “nothing to fear but fear itself". Well, not quite, as the thing to fear appears to be hot foreign money. The two pullbacks (we dare not call them corrections) in recent times have both been externally generated and both have at their root the mechanisms of the yen carry-trade. In both instances hot international flows usually attributed the bogeyman hedge funds have retreated in a rush and sent the Bovespa into a tailspin. Neither of these corrections have been lasting.
Campaigners clip wings of the vultures
Vulture funds, like the scavengers they are named after, prefer to circle a corpse and be sure no one is watching before pouncing to devour their prey. But this strategy may be starting to unravel as these funds - which pursue some of the world's poorest countries for millions of dollars they can ill afford to pay - are attracting attention from international campaigners and lawyers. Oxfam has been leading a campaign against a company called Donegal International, which has just won a high court suit against Zambia that could net it up to $20m (£10.1m). .
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