Debbie Carlson
Commodities Markets Writer
Bio
Debbie Carlson has focused on commodities for much of her writing career. She spent more than a decade at Dow Jones covering the Chicago-based futures exchanges. As a Dow Jones editor, she worked closely with The Wall Street Journal and Barron's in planning commodities coverage.
The Pipeline Role in the U.S. Energy Boom
The crude-oil production boom in the United States is leading to an infrastructure rebirth as the oil industry scrambles to…
How Changing Economics Are Changing Oil Benchmarks
The changing economics of the global energy industry are changing how benchmark prices are being used to hedge risk and this transformation is likely to continue for the next several years.
How Rail is Reshaping America’s Energy System
Railroads, that 19th-century technology, are having a 21st-century impact on the U.S. crude oil industry. The swift growth in…
How Snow Helps Both Winter and Spring Wheat
Though low moisture persists throughout most of the wheat growing areas in the Plains, some of the late winter…
Has U.S. Soil Recovered from the Drought?
After one of the worst droughts in the past 50 years hammered the U.S. Midwest crop regions last year,…
What Will Influence Final U.S. Planted Acreage?
U.S. farmers expect to plant the greatest corn acreage since the 1930s, but prices and weather can have just as…
Why USDA Reports Matter to Ag Markets
As crop reports go, this week’s 2013 USDA Prospective Plantings release is one of the big ones. It will…
Chicago Fed Economist on The Impact of The 2012 Drought
Incredibly, variability in crop quality will stand out as one of the hallmarks of a drought-hit 2012 growing season…
2012 Drought: The Lingering Impact on Livestock
Most of the attention concerning the drought this summer was on dry soil and shrinking crop yields. Meanwhile, livestock producers may have been the hardest hit of all.
2012 Drought: Why the Midwest Matters
With this year’s drought severely diminishing the expected output for corn, wheat and soybeans from the Midwestern United States, the effects on the world food chain could start to show.
Gauging The Effects of the 2012 Drought
One of the worst U.S. droughts in 50 years is striking the Midwest, withering crops in their fields and sending corn and soybean futures to all-time record price highs.
The New Role For Commodity Indexes
Even as several individual commodity futures have seen increased volatility this year, both active and passive investors continue to show strong interest. Why some are turning to indexes to gain exposure to several markets.