Easy as ABCD
Keeping an iron grip on the world's breadbaskets
Good morning, my sprouting seedlings. This is your Stock Market Rundown for July 25th, 2023. Thank you once again for joining me. Let’s dig in:
TODAY’S TOP STORY: GRAIN GAINZ 🌾
You might think ABCD sounds like a riff from Sesame Street. But to folks in the global grain business, ABCD is short-form for the four most powerful players in the game.
And even though they control three-quarters of global grain trading, you most likely haven’t heard of them, because their brand names don’t appear on food labels. Despite revenues in the tens of billions, they keep a lower profile than Wesley Snipes at an IRS audit.
ABCD is an acronym for ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus. These four global grain giants were founded in the mid to late 19th century, and their influence on the global foodstuffs industry is colossal.
ADM, now a public company, was founded in Chicago as a linseed crushing business. Linseed is used in paint binder, wood finish, and—plot twist—as an industrial food ingredient. That’ll put hair on your chest.
These days, whenever you reach for a French baguette, can of corn chowder, or canola-oil-based ranch dressing, chances are you’re consuming a product of ADM—their raw materials are ingredients in one in six packaged grocery items. Mmm, carbs.
The biggest of the four global grain behemoths companies is Cargill, the largest privately-held corporation in the US. It has 150,000 employees, so if you’re intrigued by a career as a Crop Inputs Sales Representative, submit your resume today.
As for Louis Dreyfus, they were founded in 1851 when Léopold Louis-Dreyfus started buying wheat from French farmers and shipping it to Switzerland. Today they deal in everything from coffee to sugar to soybeans. If Léopold’s surname sounds familiar, you may be thinking of actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus who played Elaine Benes in Seinfeld: she’s his great-great-granddaughter. How about some soybeans with your Big Salad?
SO WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
Could be time to pick up that cute little G-Wagon you’ve had your eye on: used car prices are down double digits in the past month.
As a salvo in the ongoing global Game of Thrones over tech manufacturing, China is restricting supply of some must-have material for computer chips. Hopefully this won't affect your smart fridge’s ability to send you a text message when you’re out of kefir.
Meta has unveiled an open-source large language model that anybody can tinker with for free. Caution: it’s prone to “offensive, harmful, and otherwise problematic language.” Sounds like my mom’s text messages.
The parent company of TikTok released a new social media app which, despite a buzzy launch, is now flagging due to complaints of idealized, unrealistic content. If I want to hate myself, I don’t need diet tips from bimbo influencers, I’d rather flip through Robb Report at my dentist’s office and drool over yachts.
That’s it for today mes amis, see you bright and early tomorrow. Yours in capitalism, The Axe