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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.
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Archived Market Commentaries:
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Date:
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12-29-09
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Headline:
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Closing Grain Comments
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Comments:
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Top Ag elevators will be open Wednesday, Dec 30 from 8 am-4:30 pm & on Thursday, Dec 31 from 8:00 am-noon. We will be closed Friday, Jan 1st for New Years Day. We wish you & your family a Joyous Holidays!
Light volume, holiday impacted activity was evident today as year-end book squaring was a dominant theme. Soybeans continued to retrace their December losses on Tuesday, but gains were more subdued than seen on Monday. Speculative liquidation of short positions continued to underpin soybeans as traders debated when export demand will begin to taper off. So far, there's no evidence of that occurring. Wheat headed in the opposite direction as follow-thru short-covering from Monday's steep gains was exhausted within the first minutes of trading. Wheat prices then drifted lower into the close. Corn was stuck between higher bean values & weaker wheat prices, & settled little-changed. Worries about final harvest losses won't be confirmed for weeks--perhaps months--& crop loss talk has begun to get stale. March corn futures settled 1c higher, January soybeans closed with a high-range 9c gain, & March CBOT wheat ended with a bottom-range 9.75c loss. Despite the recent rallies, grains remain within well-defined ranges set within the past 4 weeks.
USDA will release its quarterly Hogs & Pigs report on Wednesday afternoon.
Driven by two years of poor profits, hog producers are thought to have been culling herds. Average trade analyst guess expects total Dec 1st US hog inventory to be reported 2.4% below last year, hog breeding numbers to be 3.4% smaller, & market hog numbers to be 2.3% below 2008. The Sept-Nov pig crop is expected to be 1.2% below last year—the net result of 3.1% fewer farrowings but 1.9% more pigs saved per litter. Winter farrowing intentions are seen dropping 3.2% & spring farrowings are expected to decline by 3.0%. Feeder pigs have gotten harder to find & more expensive in part because Canadian hog producers have also been sharply curtailing their output. Higher feed prices & a strong Canadian dollar have ravaged their industry over the past 24 months. Feeder pig imports from Canada into the US may total less than 5 million head this coming year--about half the record-high imports of 2007.
December deliver basis levels on corn & wheat were a penny better Tuesday & soybean basis was steady. With January delivery priced 10-12c above December values, cash flow & tax related sales are the main reasons for year-end sales.
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.
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