The Morning Rant

14/09/11 -- The overnight markets are mostly a little lower, led by beans which are down around 10 cents, with corn 4-6 cents easier and wheat flat to down 3 cents. Crude is a dollar or so lower.

Note that September CBOT contracts go off the board today.

UK unemployment has just had its biggest quarterly rise in two years, coning in at 2.51 million, with youth unemployment now standing close to 1 million. It's not their fault, they're busy texting each other, Facebooking and looting shop windows. Then there's the giro to cash and everything, there simply aren't enough hours in the day to fit in work as well.

A winter of discontent is looming as Unison and the Public and Commercial Services Union call for mass strike action in the continued row over pension contributions. The gay, leftie pen-pushers. Bring back the birch and hanging I say.

Credit rating agency Moody's have downgraded French banks Credit Agricole and Societe Genrale citing their exposure to Greek debt. A third, BPN Parabis, is on review for sounding a little too much like the BNP.

The slippery Gyppos are back in the market tendering for wheat today, as you might guess Russia, Kazakhstan and Romania are the favourites.

Sarkozy, Merkel and the Greek PM Greek George Papandreou are apparently meeting today for what the media are calling "crisis talks." Sarkozy was sure that he put his Rolex on this morning, but it somehow seems to have disappeared. "It was like shaking hands with a big sweaty octopus," he said.