Friday, May 15, 2009

MarketWatch Special Report: Ethanol Squeeze- Fixing the biofuels market

Last Friday we linked to MarketWatch's Trading Strategies Special Report with this comment:

When this part of the Dow Jones empire gets the team to write about the markets, the result, to quote Harry Caray:

It might be . . . it could be . . . it IS! A home run! Holy cow!
Here's the lineup for the ethanol series:

The ethanol squeeze
Fixing the biofuels market
Will the ethanol industry get a second chance? It sure could use one. After the initial rush to build new plants, fueled by easy money and a federal mandate to ease the nation’s dependence on foreign oil through the use of home-grown biofuels, the ethanol business is now scrambling to protect troubled investments and keep itself a relevant part of U.S. energy policy.
COMMODITIES
Fields of dreams
Pressure on the beleaguered ethanol industry is set to intensify this year as producers are poised to chase a smaller U.S. corn crop, driving up corn prices and pushing down profit margins.
REGULATION
Defining biofuels
In the coming months, policy makers in Washington will shape the fate of many idled ethanol plants shut down during the recession as they rule on how biofuels are defined and on bid to raise the maximum amount of ethanol in mainstream gasoline.
ETHANOL FACTS
Gray matters
Cellulosic ethanol, E10, E85, cost savings, emissions, engine damage and more. Take a closer look at the good, the bad and the ugly of the ethanol industry.
VIDEO
One producer's short, happy lIfe
Reporter Matt Andrejczak visits a California corn-ethanol plant that once represented hopes for biofuels but now stands for the industry's sudden stagnation.