Grain prices charged higher today with old corn months making new contract highs in the process. March corn closed up 15 cents while March beans closed 20 3/4 cents higher. March CBOT wheat closed up 12 cents. The DJIA closed up 237.5 points while March crude oil closed up $1.24/barrel. February COMEX gold closed up $17.90/oz.
Funds were big buyers today at an estimated 150 million bushels of corn. They also bought 75 million bushels of beans and 60 million wheat. The market continues to be in a “buy the break” mentality. Last week’s break turns out to be a buying opportunity. We see this in all the grains and in fact in nearly all commodities as the CRB index continues to march higher. Pre-report positioning was also mentioned as a market factor today.
Strong export loadings in this morning’s report were also supportive. The report showed we loaded 62.1 million [ … ]
Election Day 2020. It’s finally here! After what seemed like a 4 year battle and process to get to this day, it’s Trump vs Biden. If you haven’t voted yet today, here is your reminder to go get it done in the next couple of hours.
The 2020 election will be a battle of winning a few of the key swing states. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, but lost the Electoral Vote to Donald Trump. Could that happen again in 2020? Whoever wins the 2020 election will need to have at least 270 electoral college votes. Let’s pray that common sense, peace, and democracy win, during and after this election. We don’t need any violence if your candidate isn’t selected as the winner. Here is the breakdown of each State’s Electoral votes. We might not have a definite winner until later this week.
Back to the grains….. Corn, beans, [ … ]
Chaos, closings and confusion reigns. Large market moves were noted throughout the day. DJIA futures were locked limit-up ahead of the index opening this morning. It then traded nearly unchanged at one point this morning and then settled a whopping 1,985 points higher (+9%) on the close! CME livestock futures tried to rally this morning and then closed locked limit-down this afternoon. Corn, beans and wheat chopped around both sides of steady during the day. May corn was up 6 at the high and then finished unchanged. May wheat was up about 8 cents at the high and then closed just a 1/2-cent higher. May soybeans traded 12 1/2 higher and 14 1/4 lower at the extremes. It was a disappointing close at 10 3/4 cents lower.
Apparently the markets liked President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency this afternoon just prior to the DJIA closing at 3 pm CT. The [ … ]
MARCH MADNESS has a whole new meaning. We don’t need to go into details here. Turn on the news and you’ll get your fill. Equities got hit harder than the commodities. Wheat and soybeans settled a respectable distance from the session lows. The May soybean contract was down 13 3/4 on the close, but was down 21 at the low. May wheat was down 7 1/4 on the close and 15 1/2 at the low. KC May wheat was only down 2 3/4 at the closing bell. Corn closed weak with the May down 8 3/4 and just 3/4-cent off the session low.
Fund selling was HUGE at an estimated 100 million bushels of corn, 60 million beans and 40 million wheat. That puts their estimated short positions at 551 million bushels of corn and 305 million bushels of beans. Oh, how we wish the day comes (sooner than later) they [ … ]
In like a lamb, out like a lion. Oops, wrong time of year. But, that describes price action this week. The last two days have been wild. December corn was down 16 cents at the low yesterday and up 18 1/2 at the high today! The contract settled just shy of the $3.98 level, up 17 1/2 on the day. The two-day trading range for the November soybean contract was 20 cents and then settled 12 1/2 higher this afternoon. Wheat futures participated in the rally today with nearby Chicago up 15 cents, KC up about 16 and Minneapolis about 13 cents higher. Of course, the winter weather that’s invaded the upper Midwest and rumors of a trade deal with China were the bullish factors that drove prices higher today.
Here’s a look at December corn going back to July. You can see how far from those summer levels were are [ … ]
Volatility reigns. Last week it was USDA numbers and China moving corn and soybean prices. Today it’s the energy markets on fire. Saudi Arabian oil facilities were attacked. On the open last evening, crude oil was up $8 1/2 per barrel, while gas and heating oil futures were up 22 cents or so. CBOT futures went along for the ride. Interesting that nearby corn, soybean and wheat contract were all up about 6 cents at their highs. The grains held on to most of those gains. Soybeans settled just a penny higher.
The DJIA was down 143 points on the day and settled at 27,077. Fortune 500 companies that are energy-based obviously took a hit. Nearby crude oil settled at $62.90, up $8.05 on the day. Gas futures settled at $1.75, up 20 cents. Ethanol managed a paltry 4-cent gain on the day. The U.S. dollar was up .372 [ … ]
Wheat was the darling commodity at the CBOT today with the nearby contract up 14 cents on the day. Didn’t provide much spillover support to the other wheat exchanges with spring wheat up 2 1/2 cents and hard red (KC) wheat up 4-5 cents. Didn’t do much for corn or beans either. December corn was up about 2 cents during the session, but finished 1-2 lower. Soybeans also traded both sides of their steady close. The November contract was up 3 1/4 at the high and down 6 3/4 at the low.
The DJIA finished higher for the fourth consecutive session. Wasn’t much of a gain today at just 38 points (.14% gain). But, the close at 26,835 points is the best since July 31. Nearby crude oil traded over the $58 level for the first time in more than a month, settling at $57.85 up $1.33 on the day. The [ … ]