It’s really easy to invest in timber too. You don’t have to go out and plunk down a few million dollars to buy a tree farm. You can simply buy stock in a company in the timber business! As timber prices go up, your stock price goes up! It’s that simple.

My article for Investor’s Daily Edge on 03/05/09 specifically recommended Plum Creek Timber Co. Inc. (PCL).

I hope you took my advice because PCL is up over 18% in just a few weeks. Now that is a nice short-term gain. Our staff here at Investor’s Daily Edge strives to give you information that you can profit from, that is our passion.

If you missed this opportunity to get into PCL, don’t worry-it’s not too late. I still think timber is one of the best places to put your money. Let me explain why.

The Earth currently has 6.76 billion people and the world’s population is expected to hit 9 billion by 2040. All these extra people are going to consume timber in a variety of uses from home construction to wood pulp used in paper production. Demand will greatly exceed supply, and this will drive timber prices much higher.

Timber tends to outperform inflation and the stock market over the long term. In fact, timber usually performs quite well in times of economic stress like we are experiencing these days. When we finally exit this economic crisis, you should see timber prices rocket higher due to construction demand increases and inflationary pressure.

Source: The Ultimate Inflation Hedge – Invest in Timber and Protect Your Wealth

The dollar was “weaker on the day, as the buck really never recovered from the early sell-off” after the Labor Department’s PPI numbers, wrote currency strategists at Brown Brothers Harriman.

The producer price index slowed to 0.2% in April after seasonable adjustments, with food prices flat and energy prices falling. Economists were projecting a 0.4% rise

However, core PPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose a higher-than-expected 0.4% in April. Core prices are up 3% in the past year, the biggest year-over-year rise since late 1991.

Also “Excluding food and energy, crude materials prices increased a whopping 7.9%, a level exceeded only twice since record keeping began in 1972,” said Tony Crescenzi, of Miller Tabak & co.

All this could leave the Federal Reserve with reduced incentive to further cut interest rates.

“Increased inflationary pressure, especially in the non-food and non-energy components, could hinder further monetary stimulus during the remainder of 2008,” wrote Matthew Strauss, of RBC Capital Markets.

And Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn may have supported that view when he said in a speech that the Fed is satisfied with its target for overnight lending rates at 2%.

Source: Dollar Sinks