Who We Are

Resumé Story

Gary Hofer’s roots are in the rolling hills of wheat in Southeastern Washington. His father, Glen Hofer, was the grandson of Friedrich Hofer, a tough, hardworking homesteader who carved a working wheat farm out of the bunchgrass and wind in the Skyrocket Hills, north of Prescott, Washington. Some of Gary’s earliest memories are of the smell of ripe wheat in early summer mornings, and of sitting near his dad in the local co-op elevator office listening to discussions of wheat prices. His later education included a wide range of subjects, including English Literature, but was increasingly focused on how the markets move, driven as they are by a brew of psychology and practical economics. His most advanced degree is “Master of International Management” emphasizing finance, from the American Graduate School of International Management in 1982. His first job out of that experience was as a grain buyer and then merchandiser at Grain Terminal Association, followed by a position at GTA as futures trader and floor runner at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange. After some years in the upper Midwest, Gary sought further adventures as a stock-broker at Dean Witter in Phoenix, Arizona (a conservative business). In 1990, he  “went rogue” moving back to southeastern Washington’s wheat country and setting out as an Introducing Broker for Index Futures Group, working with futures customers and others in Walla Walla, Washington. The demands of this business honed the sense of what is required in order for producers and traders of wheat to succeed. In the ‘90’s, Gary created and nurtured the “Risk Education and Awareness Program (REAP), a USDA grant-supported marketing newsletter and seminar training program under the umbrella of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers. The central theme of this program was to help refine awareness of wheat market price trends and ways to control risk. In all, through decades of work, Gary absorbed what the futures and equity markets had to teach, and still learns something new every day.    

Today, Gary and his loyal staff continue the work, researching and producing the MarketBullets® newsletter, focusing on keeping subscribers aware and informed of the dominant factors driving the wheat markets and the greater market environment.