Market News
Click here for the
Weather, Futures,
Real-Time Quotes,
Research, and more...
Home
Management Team
Mgmt Notes / News
Market Commentary
Daily Grain Prices
Locations
Services:
>Trucking
>Feed
>Agronomy
>Grain Dept.
>Lumber Dept.
Weather
Classifieds
History of Top-Ag
Board of Directors
Useful Links
Admin Page
Would you like market prices sent to your cell phone daily? We can text the markets to you 3 times a day to help keep you aware of market direction.
And it’s FREE!!
Contact Scott, Mike, or Seth at 618-243-5293 to get set up.
|
|
Archived Market Commentaries:
|
Date:
|
12-16-09
|
|
Headline:
|
Closing Grain Comments
|
|
Comments:
|
After having traded slightly higher in the overnight e-trade session, grains got a boost on today's open from surging oil futures & yet another Chinese soybean purchase. Wheat peaked in the opening minute, corn set its high 3 minutes later, & beans stalled a minute thereafter. Each traded back to unchanged before staging a late-session surge ahead of a 1:15 pm Federal Reserve interest rate decision. March corn futures settled 2.75c higher--stalling after weekly charts posted a 6-month high. Jan beans closed 4.5c higher--but 11c off its early high. March CBOT wheat ended 1/2c higher--having traded both 7.25c higher & 9c lower during the session.
Export news was again firm for soybeans, but disappointing for corn & wheat. USDA announced that China bought 4.262 mb of beans, but S Korea passed on 6.496 mb of US corn & Egypt purchased 11.022 mb of Russian wheat & 2.204 mb from France instead of US supplies. Looking ahead to Thursday, trade analysts expect USDA's Weekly Export Sales data to report sales of corn at 19.7-35.4 mb, beans at 23.9-36.7 mb, wheat at 7.3-16.5 mb, soymeal at 125,000-250,000 mt, & soyoil at 5,000-25,000 mt. This afternoon's Weekly USDA Hatchery data showed poultry producers set 0.5% fewer eggs in incubators last week & placed 0.6% fewer broiler chicks on feed. Poultry numbers have stabilized since Oct.
The Federal Reserve's policy making Federal Open Market Committee left its overnight Fed funds interest rate at 0-0.25% this afternoon & indicated that economic trends still justified leaving rates at very low levels for an extended period. Citing reduced US job loss trends & a recovery in markets, however, the FOMC reiterated that it will be withdrawing some of its credit expansion activities in coming months. That's akin to taking away the spiked punch bowl to keep the inflation party from getting out of hand. Investment firms that have been touting gold, crude oil, & "commodity index funds" as inflation hedges believe the Fed will keep money too cheap too long. Much of the recent corn gains have come as speculators try to buy ahead of expected portfolio rebalancing efforts by index funds which are seen adding up to 60,000 contracts of corn after the first of the year.
Basis levels were fractionally higher this afternoon as barge freight continued to edge lower as grain movement slackens. The combination of the late harvest & previously made December shipment contracts have kept the Gulf well supplied for the past several weeks. Grain movement would normally begin to tail off as the holidays approach. For basis to improve dramatically, corn & wheat export demand needs to begin to start showing more signs of life.
Would you like CBOT futures prices reported to your phone? Top Ag can send you nearby & harvest futures prices for corn, soybeans & wheat at 9:45 am, 11:15 am & 1:45 pm each day. We provide the service for free, but you may have to pay for text messages--depending upon your phone plan. Give Scott, Mike or Seth a call at the Okawville elevator at 243-5293 & we'll get you set up!
"Closing Comments" are written by David Marshall, Toay Commodities Futures Group LLC, Nashville, IL. To learn more about his farm marketing advisory or commodity brokerage services, contact him at dmarshall@tcfg-llc.com or call (618) 327-4370 (voice/fax) or (618) 314-0918 (cell). This commentary is not intended for specific trading strategies. We strive to insure this information is reliable, but we cannot guarantee its accuracy or completeness. Commodity trading involves risks. You should fully understand those risks before trading.
|
|
|
