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October 20, 2005

So I don't understand orange juice, Thurs., Oct. 20, 2005, 12:33 PM

There is not a day in my life that I don't drink fresh orange juice. I buy the Tropicana or President's Choice PC orange juice by the family jug. Wonderful stuff.

But I have never traded the OJ futures.

So now that JEB Bush has declared a Florida emergency today for a storm headed in the opposite direction, about to level Cancun and Cozumel, the OJ futures traders love the action.

Apparently 80 pct of U.S. OJ production is in Florida. And Wilma is possibly going to affect production.

It was just a year ago that a member of my family, who happens to be responsible for some 7 million gallons of fresh OJ consumption in Canada, told me he went down to Philadelphia to watch his ship come in. It happened to be a refrigerated container ship from BRAZIL, not Florida.

I learned that Brazil is the biggest OJ producer in the world, supplying the majority of fresh OJ consumed in North America, about 70 pct. So here I was thinking I'm drinking the good stuff straight from FL and I hear it's really coming in from South America.

Now, if I were a pro trader in OJ futures, I'd know that. But I wonder how many of the dummied down North American traders really know more than the drivel fed to them by CNBC?

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Reader mail from Alan: "Bill, for god sakes buy oranges and grapefruit, not OJ ! Did you ever see the amount of sugar in that damn stuff and the amount of calories, not to mention the dirty containers they use to haul it around ! Take care of yourself !" LOL

Posted by Posted by Bill Cara on October 20, 2005 12:33:28 PM | Category: Commodities