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MSCI Canada ETF: Safe Commodities Exposure and Much, Much More

Recent decisions such as taxing income trusts and royalty increases in Alberta show that geopolitical risk is alive and well in forms less direct than war or nationalization of companies!

Farm Belt Boom: What's Everyone Doing with Their Extra Cash?

I think the analyst you listened to is really reaching to come up with something original.

The Census of Agriculture lists (in 2002 anyway) the number of farms in the US as about 2 million, with operators listing their principal occupation as agriculture at 70% or less depending on region. If you assume half the farms of the US are in the Midwest, then this leaves you with 700,000 farmers who will principally benefit from this agriculture boom, and as business owners they will be mostly concerned with improving their balance sheets (debt) after a stretch of lean times. That's a pretty small niche market for consumer discretionary items.

While the greater population of farm communities will see some spinoff effect, they are still subject to the same consumer slowdown seen in the rest of the country, and this I believe overrides any upturn in the ag sector.