August 24, 2007 (LPAC)--In the mist of the financial collapse, the insanity in the financial world will get wilder. For example, speculation in agricultural commodities is reaching record levels. Last May, Charlie Carey, Chairman of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), offered this understated description to the Illinois Farm Bureau's Farm Week: "We see growth in commodity products worldwide." In 2006, the CBOT set its fifth consecutive record year for transactions, and as of the Spring of 2007, the trading pace was already 17% above 2006's rate.

On Aug. 23, wheat prices jumped to record highs, with the price for December delivery reaching an all-time high of $7.54 per bushel on the Chicago market. Over the past 12 months, wheat prices have risen by 110%, and threefold since 2000. Now, according to London's Financial Times, food industry executives are warning that meat, poultry and dairy prices will climb in the short term, as farmers and processors pass on higher feed costs to consumers.

Since the CBOT introduced ethanol contracts in March of 2005, speculators have jumped into this area as well, subsequently taking advantage of the CBOT's introduction of electronic trading during daytime hours, which further expanded opportunities for speculation.