The yuan-dollar peg has gone a long way in ensuring constancy. Chinese economic growth – we would argue, all economic growth – ensues under the auspice of a stable currency. But ties to the greenback have recently come with a price.

As commodity markets become more mainstream for investors its interesting to know that energy and food shortages may very well come hand in hand. Here is a recent column that my collegue Kevin Kerr wrote for Outstanding Investments, it sheds a little bit of light on the situation.

Right now, countries around the world are facing food shortages. There’s just not enough to go around, when prices of corn, soybeans, rice and other basic staples are soaring in price.

Uh oh, what’s this? “Argentina may face worst unrest since the ’70s”, says a headline in the TIMES of London. Hmmm… we’re on a way to Argentina on Friday… to see our new grandson. The last thing we want is trouble.

The commodities boom took a serious knock today following a report from the US Agricultural Department.

The report revealed that farmers expect to plant 18% more soybeans and 5.5% more wheat this year.

According to BusinessWeek, “soybeans for May delivery dropped 70 cents to $11.9725 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, its lowest level in three months. Wheat fell to a two-month low, losing 60 cents to $9.29 a bushel on the CBOT.”

So just where is this dead zone? It’s just off the southern coast of the United States, in the Gulf of Mexico. And it puts a $26 billion industry in harm’s way. Last year, the dead zone continued its expansion. It’s now larger than the state of New Jersey.