Ironic...Egypt riots driving food prices higher.

Commodities Overtake Stocks, Bonds After Two-Day Gain on Egypt
By Whitney Kisling and Millie Munshi

Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The biggest two-day rally in commodities since December pushed raw materials past stocks, bonds and the dollar for a second month, after Egyptian riots drove oil, wheat and rice higher.

The S&P GSCI Total Return Index of 24 raw materials gained 3.1 percent in January and rose for a fifth month , the longest streak since 2004, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The MSCI All-Country World Index of equities climbed 1.6 percent including dividends. The U.S. Dollar Index , a gauge of the currency against six counterparts, fell 1.6 percent. The Global Broad Market Index for corporate and government bonds lost 0.2 percent as of Jan. 28, Bank of America Merrill Lynch data show.

Commodities have beaten stocks for three months, the longest stretch since June 2008, after the Federal Reserve pledged to buy $600 billion of Treasuries and demand for clothes and food lifted cotton, cocoa and copper. Equities were poised to break the streak until Jan. 28, when concern Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will be ousted sent the MSCI gauge to its biggest retreat since November and boosted food and fuel.

“There are supply-side issues that have really kicked up the price of a lot of commodities,” said Walter “Bucky” Hellwig , who oversees $17 billion at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama. “Rising prices have really hit people in countries where food makes up a larger part of their income. We’re seeing this play out in North Africa right now, where food prices have become a tinder box.”

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=2065101&sid=a9tq6S4VRbj8

It's to be expected in a time of social and political turmoil. People hunker down...horde necessities and this creates shortages that drive up prices. And it also brings on the speculators.

Any time there is political unrest in a generally dependably political environment, prices start fluctuating in lots of areas. I'm surprised the oil prices haven't risen further.

vultures with computers figuring out how to profit on chaos:puke: