Volume II, Issue I

A Note from Cindy . . .

February 8, 2011

I am excited to offer you something really awesome in this issue!

What value would you place on having complimentary access to a Financial Specialist from the banking industry to provide you an unbiased analysis of your bank and working capital needs?

Jeff Reardon, Financial Specialist at White Commercial, offers you his services - confidentially and freely. For our White Commercial customers, Jeff acts as a liaison between the elevator and the banker as he understands the perspective of both. Here are some possible topics of discussion:

How much working capital is enough?
How to communicate with your banker to project confidence.
Ways to stay within your balance sheet.
In case of a run on high prices, how much line of credit is wise to have in place,
and is it advisable to have a secondary over-line credit?

Did you see that offer? Jeff is willing to have a confidential, complimentary visit with you about your specific situation. We recognize the tremendous changes and opportunities taking place in the grain industry and want to help people through the transition.

Our Golden Nugget for this issue is “The Money Business” written by Jeff Reardon. “The commodities price rallies of 2008 and 2010-2011 have created an enormous need for more capital in our companies, while the wide basis swings have increased margins and bolstered our financial statements significantly. We must find a way to carefully embrace this new paradigm.” Read further for Jeff’s complete message in the newsletter section, “The Golden Nugget.”

Call me at (888) 546-9555 to make an appointment with Jeff to discuss your current situation and future financial needs. Prepare now!

Best wishes,

Cindy Smith

P.S. Our 2011 Educational Opportunities for this merchandising season are enclosed.
You may view and register at this link: http://www.whitecommercial.com/education/current-schedule.aspx. Invest in your future and go deeper to train those within your organization!

Complimentary consultation with Jeff Reardon,
Finance Specialist

Discuss an unbiased analysis of your bank and working capital needs with Jeff.

Please call Cindy at (888) 546-9555 to make an appointment to
discuss bringing your financial team into this new era.

White Commercial Corporation ~
SO MUCH MORE than clearing your future trades and teaching educational workshops!

White Commercial clears the futures for our members and conducts workshops. HOWEVER, our real niche is to help support a whole network of people that focus specifically on the needs of a grain elevator, feed mill and rice dryer. Our Members are located in 26 states plus Manitoba and Ontario, Canada.

Here are a few member benefits:

Unlimited access to the experience of our Grain Merchandising Team
On-site farm marketing workshops for your customers
Comprehensive on-line Basis Trading Library
Access to the ONYX Electronic Trading Platform

Tired of standing alone in these volatile times? Call Cindy at (888) 546-9555 to learn more about how to become a member of our group.

“Even if you’re on the right track - you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Will Rogers

The Money Business - A Golden Nugget

Featuring Jeff Reardon, Financial Specialist with White Commercial Corporation

We must all agree that we have entered a new phase in the grain business, one filled with opportunities and challenges that we have never experienced before. The commodities price rallies of 2008 and 2010-2011 have created an enormous need for more capital in our companies, while the wide basis swings have increased margins and bolstered our financial statements significantly. We must find a way to carefully embrace this new paradigm.

The 19 billion dollar corn crop of 2000 has become a 70 billion dollar crop in 2010, forcing merchandisers to make wholesale changes in their merchandising strategies. No longer can elevators load up with harvest-time bushels and wait until spring and summer months to make sales. Today's new market, with higher prices and increased volatility, has rendered this method of merchandising impractical. Even though balance sheets and credit lines are strained, many companies have failed to recognize that the changing environment calls for major changes in the way that they sell grain. Yearning for the old environment of buying and holding is unproductive. We must find a way to capture today's wonderful merchandising opportunities, to adapt to the new phase of the grain business and to embrace the idea that “selling is everything.”

White Commercial has identified that in this new environment it is imperative that you change the way you merchandise. Consequently, we have geared our workshops to help you identify the changes required and discuss how to implement those changes in your business. Topics ranging from elevator expansion, making more profitable sales, and a series of real world merchandising workshops are all on the calendar. In addition, we have a workshop FOR CO-OPS ONLY that deal with addressing these possibilities in the co-op setting.

Over the next few months I will be working hard with bankers across the country to help them see past the current financial needs and look to the incredible forward contracting opportunities that are available. It is time to lock in profits for your producers at the same time you lock in wide basis for the elevator, but not without first embracing the merchandising realities of this new era. At our recent Master Management Conference, I asked four seasoned lenders directly responsible for over 1 billion dollars in grain loans to talk about forward contracting. Their answer was right on point - “we want to help, but you need to help yourselves by making profitable sales when the market calls for your grain whether you own the bushels yet or not.” The message is clear - in order to always be a market to buy grain, you must first always be a market to sell to your end users. These customers need your bushels so badly in many cases they have moved their plants right next door. What an opportunity!

Please call Cindy at (888) 546-9555 to make an appointment with me to discuss bringing your financial team into this new era.

Scotty McCoy
White Commercial Corporation

“We talk a lot about the perfect elevator here at White Commercial, and try to use those ideals to help build skills and plan for the future. One of the main advantages of the perfect elevator is an unlimited supply of space and money. Since I haven’t seen any of these companies yet, we are all going to have to quickly learn to excel at the new financial realities of our marketplace.”