Chen and eggs in the news at Barron
This is the article from Barron about the egg crisis in Europe. They of course talked to the world famous senior egg analyst Mr Chen.
As if the European Union weren't already in enough hot water, it has inadvertently cooked up another crisis, just in time for the Easter holiday.The compact's Jan. 1 directive on hen happiness, mandating that egg producers increase the size of hens' cages, has laid an enormous egg, reducing EU production by an estimated 10% to 15%. Indeed, the wholesale price of eggs there has more than doubled."The French have no croissants, the Italians have no pasta," says Chen Lin, an independent investor who pens a newsletter called What Is Chen Buying? What Is Chen Selling? "Instead of breaking the law, they are just slaughtering the chickens," he says.Enlarge ImageWilliam Waitzman for Barron'sJust Ducky: It's not clear how a recent directive in the EU on hen happiness will affect U.S. producers of shell eggs.Chen has been buying Avangard(ticker: AVGR.Ukraine), the world's second-largest egg producer, but he cautions that it is thinly traded. The EU isn't big on egg decorating, but Avangard, which complies with the new law, is selling to the Eastern Orthodox, who are.Because egg production is largely a domestic endeavor, it's unclear how the EU crisis will affect U.S. producers. Still, Chen is buying Cal-Maine Foods(CALM), the biggest producer in the U.S., where prices recently jumped more than 10 cents a dozen.
