In an 1892 mystery story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes figures out what happened to a missing racehorse named Silver Blade by observing a dog that didn’t bark in the night. Likewise, sometimes what doesn’t happen in markets can be a clue to something significant. In the case of the recently signed U.S. trade deal with China, the dogs have been notably quiet in Chicago’s agricultural futures markets. Despite China’s commitment to buy more American farm products, prices haven’t gone up—a sign that investors and...

Source: Wall Street Journal January 19, 2020 15:00 UTC