Beef Prices Rise on Smaller US Herds (MCD, WEN, SONC, RUTH, MRT)
US beef prices rose about 10% in 2011 and could go up another 5% this year, raising prices at supermarkets and at restaurants owned by McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD, The Wendy’s Co. (NYSE: WEN), Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC), Ruth’s Hospitality…
US beef prices rose about 10% in 2011 and could go up another 5% this year, raising prices at supermarkets and at restaurants owned by McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD, The Wendy’s Co. (NYSE: WEN), Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC), Ruth’s Hospitality Group Inc. (NASDAQ: RUTH), and Morton’s Restaurant Group Inc. (NYSE: MRT), currently the object of tender offer from privately held Landry’s.
Beef exports rose 19% in the four weeks ended January 5th, according to a report at Bloomberg News. Feedlots are paying higher prices for the fewer cattle that are available. Feeder-cattle futures are currently going for around $1.50/pound, while live-cattle spot prices are around $1.25/pound, up more than 2% in the last week.
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Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.
