Stand and Deliver

June 06, 2008

This classic N.C. Wyeth painting “Stand and Deliver” came to mind today as we read a fertilizer dealer’s email response to a rather innocuous question:

Q: “…what is the mood of the Ag-retailer going into deeper and perhaps uncharted water?”

A: “As for the mood of the Ag retailer…it is degrading as we get keel-hauled by our customers for cost increases promulgated by our suppliers who are clearly capitalizing on the situation. We all hear about how the global market situation is entirely responsible for this, much as we hear how the global situation is responsible for the price of gasoline and diesel. Our suppliers apparently think we are too naive to look at their quarterly earnings reports. Yes, we realize we are in a global market situation and yes, we realize that our suppliers are capitalizing on the situation while we are getting our butts chewed off by the people who have to actually pay for this stuff. As I told one supplier the other day…it is my fervent hope that the folks managing their company are still in place when the seeds they are now sowing have ripened for harvest. They are systematically destroying demand that has taken years to build all in the name of short term gain. I have never seen such unbridled gluttony (and ignorance) in XX years.”

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Monkey Business...

May 24, 2008

The “Lobby” at convention hotels is always a great source of sage commentary. The 76th IFA Annual Convention in Vienna was no exception. The one we liked best this year was the alleged observation by an industry CEO to his marketing aide-de-camp which we paraphrase as follows:

I could go to the zoo to replace you; even monkeys can sell fertilizer.

We naturally take exception with this comment. Everybody knows that the best marketing monkeys are already working on “Wall Street” where they have been busy trading the likes of mortgage backed securities, collateralized debt obligations, credit default swaps and similar ponzi products. In fact that CEO might even be able to sell those monkeys some of his own company’s script…

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All Hail the King

April 29, 2008

If you haven’t had enough bullish fertilizer news lately we suggest taking a short break and watch this podcast from Morningstar:

Similarities between this picture
of King William The Conqueror
and any current fertilizer industry
executive are purely coincidental.

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