Cotton Futures Dynamics: Structural Change, Index Traders and the Returns to Storage

The commodity bull cycle of 2006-2008 and subsequent dramatic price decline have been a source of hardship for traditional commodity market participants such as producers and merchant/shippers. The usefulness of futures markets has been called into question, especially given that some market movements did not appear to be justified by economic fundamentals. An emerging research literature examines the possible influence of futures traders, and particularly the non-traditional Index Traders, on the well-functioning of futures markets and underlying commodity markets. Cotton is a relatively under-studied commodity that is of particular importance for producers in the South and Southwest. To this end, this paper asks the following questions: (1) What role have (primarily long-only) Index Traders played, if we simultaneously account for important ongoing changes in cotton economic fundamentals? (2) Have seasonal and long-run patterns of convenience yield and price volatility changed during or since the commodity bull cycle? (3) How well do the data support a theory of storage model using the concept of convenience yield, and has the relationship changed with the commodity bull cycle? The results presented in this paper suggest that traditional, well-established economic relationships for cotton futures markets clearly have been disrupted during the period 2006- 2009. However, we find no direct evidence to support the claim that Index Traders are responsible for changes in prices or volatility.Cotton, futures markets, theory of storage, convenience yield, Index Traders, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, Financial Economics, Marketing, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty,

New Estimates of Federal Government Tangible Capital and Net Investment

Government capital formation raises a number of issues important to national economic well-being, yet the U.S., unlike most advanced countries, does not account for capital in its formal budget documents. We estimate depreciation of government capital using a methodology developed by Hulten and Wykoff which is based on used asset price data. We estimate a federal government net nonresidential capital stock of over $800 billion in 1984, more than 20% higher than estimated by the BEA. We also find much larger net federal investment since World War II than the BEA. The behavior of military and civilian structures and equipment is also examined.We analyze the potential importance of these results for measuring the net national savings rate, national wealth, the trend in government capital formation relative to private capital formation, and the relationship between net investment and deficits.

The Economics of Spruce Budworm Outbreaks in the Lake States: An Overview

Economic effects of spruce budworm outbreaks in the Lake States were examined. The recent outbreak caused spruce and fir mortality on 420 thousand ha (I.OS million acres) of commercial forest land in the Lake States. Two models of Lake States spruce-fir markets were developed. A Static Economic Model established the nature of the Lake States spruce-fir market and a Comparative Static Model examined changes brought about by spruce budworm outbreaks. Outbreaks result in short-run supply shifts which probably decrease total revenue to stumpage owners but do not affect demand. The magnitude of long-run impacts were dependent on developing Lake States markets and forest management techniques. Further research is necessary on the value of short-run losses to stumpage owners so that the costs of forest management can be compared with outbreak losses. Long-run shifts in demand can be facilitated by attracting new industry to the area, developing new markets for the spruce-fir resource, and demonstrating that the spruce-fir resource can provide a continuous fiber source in the future. These shifts would provide the price incentives that land managers require to undertake intensive forest management. Research on the development of new markets for the spruce-fir resource is needed. As markets develop, the long-run impacts become less severe. Technology transfer programs already exist to aid land managers in developing management strategies to increase yields of spruce-fir and minimize outbreak impact

The (ethylenedinitrilo)-tetraacetate titration of calcium and magnesium in ocean waters II. Determination of magnesium

M odifications of the EDTA titration of total hardness have been evaluated for use ,n determining magnesium in sea water. In this procedure EDTA is the titrant, Eriochrome Blue Black B the indicator, and ethanolamine the buffer. Various conditions necessary for accurate sea water titrations have been established. A mean magnesium-chlorinity ratio of 0.06689 was obtained when 30 sea water samples were titrated

Titanium in the sea

Small amounts of titanium have been detected in sea water by a colorimetric procedure using a thymol reagent and also by a spectrographic method. Diatoms and sea muds were found to have larger amounts of titanium than sea water. Thus it would seem that titanium is concentrated by diatoms in their shell structures

The (ethylenedinitrilo) tetraacetate titration of calcium and magnesium in ocean waters

Various factors influencing the determination of calcium in ocean water by (ethylenedinitrilo)tetre.e.cetate titration have been investigated. Using Cal-Red as indicator, the method has been applied in titrating 36 ocean samples. A calcium-chlorinity ratio of 0.02134 was obtained. The speed, preciseness, accuracy and simplicity of the method should encourage its future use

The Relationship Between Multicast Applications and Scatter/Gather I/O

Perfect algorithms and e-business have garnered great interest from both security experts and cyberneticists in the last several years. Given the trends in authenticated technology, programmers dubiously note the intuitive unification of I/O automata and linked lists. We introduce new robust configurations (Amass), arguing that thin clients and expert systems can interact to achieve this purpose

The preparation and characterisation of monomeric and linked metal carbonyl clusters containing the closo-Si2Co4 pseudo-octahedral core

PhSiH3 reacts with [Co₄(CO)₁₂] at 50 °C in hydrocarbon solvents to give [(µ₄-SiPh)₂Co₄(CO)₁₁], 2c, shown by an X-ray crystal structure determination to have a pseudo-octahedral Si₂Co₄ core. Substituted aryl-silanes behaved similarly. Mixtures of PhSiH₃, H₃SiC₆H₄SiH₃ and [Co₄(CO)₁₂] in a ca. 2 1 2 ratio gave the dimeric cluster [{Co₄(µ₄-SiPh)(CO)₁₁Si}₂C₆H₄], 3a, which has the two Si₂Co₄ cores linked by a C₆H₄ group to give a rigid molecule which an X-ray structure analysis shows to be over 23 Å long. Related dimers linked by –(CH₂)₈– groups were isolated from mixtures of PhSiH₃, α ,ω-(H₃Si)₂(CH₂)₈ and [Co₄(CO)₁₂]. Electrochemical studies show the two cluster units in 3a do not interact electronically

Solubilization of glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins in quiescent and stimulated neutrophils

AbstractIn human neutrophils, alkaline phosphatase (AlkPase), a low-affinity receptor for IgG (FcRIIIB), and complement decay accelerating factor (DAF) are glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins. Varying greatly in biological function these three integral membrane proteins exhibit regulated cell surface expression in neutrophils. Defined by their common membrane-linkage motif, AlkPase, FcRIIIB, and DAF can be released from the lipid bilayer by the action of phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C and are relatively resistant to low temperature extraction with Triton X-100 (TX-100). In this study we show that neutrophil AlkPase, FcRIII, and DAF display differential extractibility; they are relatively insensitive to TX-100 solubilization at 4° C, but are readily extracted with TX-100 at 37° C or by the detergent octyl glucoside at 4° C. The differential extractibility of these GPI-anchored proteins is the same in unstimulated cells, where these proteins exist primarily in an intracellular pool, and stimulated cells, where they are expressed principally at the cell surface. However, no differential extraction effect is observed with two neutrophil transmembrane proteins, complement receptor 1 (CD35, CRl) and MHC Class I in either stimulated or unstimulated cells