CROPS

In the last week, Chicago wheat September futures were violent, printing a high at $6.94 per bushel Monday, and promptly collapsing to $6.43 by Wednesday. Then Friday, upon the release of the latest USDA statistics, the price screamed up to $6.95. That is 51 cents per bushel down and 52 cents back up between Monday and Friday. Might as well call it "volatility!" New crop (August) white wheat prices at Portland were a bit less exciting, down 17 cents, then up 15 with a net loss of about 2 cents on the week to settle at about $6.70 per bushel. If you sneezed, you missed the drama.

The biggest li...