Some follow up on earlier posts.

On the idea of having some exposure to agricultural commodities via, for example, the DBA ETF as a play on the ethanol boondoggle and the vagaries of the weather:

Bloomberg: Corn Farms Replace New York Lofts as Hottest Property.

Quotes:

Marc Faber, a Hong Kong-based investor who manages about $300 million, says one of his favorite stocks is Cresud SA, a landowner in Argentina's Pampas region. The shares jumped 63 percent last year. Farmland is ``very inexpensive in a world of inflated asset prices,'' he said in an interview Feb. 4 from Bermuda.

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Farm Bulls

Jim Rogers, the hedge fund manager who predicted the start of the commodity rally in 1999, said global warming will hinder crops and has advised purchasing farmland for at least a decade.

``Because of the disruptions, agricultural prices will go through the roof,'' he told reporters in Melbourne on Feb. 7. ``I am extremely bullish on agriculture.''

Australian crop production is the worst in 20 years due to an extensive and lengthy drought. The article suggests that rice production will be down 90%, as rice is an extremely water intensive crop.

A hotter summer this year in the American mid-west? That's all we need.

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On Apple, the iPhone looks like a gamechanger and the demand appears to be there:

CNBC: iPhone Outlook.

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The housing 'hangover' rolls on:

Bloomberg: Housing `Hangover' Kills Jobs as Spending Wanes; More Cuts Loom.

Quotes:

Housing and related industries account for about 23 percent of the economy, according to the center.

....

``The fallout in the early 1990s was much worse than what we've seen so far, but this downturn is not over,'' said Puryear, the head of real estate research for the unit of St. Petersburg, Florida-based Raymond James Financial Inc. ``The full impact hasn't hit yet.''

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First Marc Faber said he sees a strong correction in the near future, now former hedge fund manager Michael Steinhardt is concerned the rally may be over sooner rather than later.