A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reminded me of an old Sunday school lesson from years back. It applies perfectly to the stock market…”the first shall be last.”

Recently, legendary Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens made headlines with another big bet on energy…but it was No ordinary oil & gas investment.

A month ago, I wrote an article here in the A-Letter detailing the global food crisis. According to data from the World Bank, global food prices have soared 83% in the past three years alone.

When it comes to high-priced oil, Congress just doesn’t get it.

It’s hard to believe that summer’s heat (and hurricane season) is almost here. As the calendar turns to another month it’s often quite interesting to take a look back at the past month to see which trends may be in for a switch. One phrase comes to mind that perfectly sums up April’s market action: A reversal of fortune!

Share prices in mainland China soared 16% this week. The benchmark CSI 300 Index climbed over 9% on Thursday alone – that’s the largest single-day gain ever recorded.

I’ve been so wrapped-up in the ongoing credit crunch that I might have missed an even larger crisis brewing, that’s threatening the global economy: FOOD!

A popular radio show from the 1940’s, Can You Top This?, was one of my Mom’s favorites when she was a kid. In the program, comedians swapped jokes while a “laugh-o-meter” gauged the audience response to see who was the funniest. This was the pre-TV version of America’s Funniest Home Videos, a show that my kids just can’t get enough of today.

Well, I guess it’s now “official.” Over the weekend, representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank officially declared that we are in the middle of a global food crisis.