Corn Outlook: Grain futures are having to cope with the sovereign debt crisis in Europe as it relates to commodities, and weather. Recently, the debt ratings of Greece and Italy were downgraded which is bearish for commodities. In the meantime, producers in the eastern Corn Belt are struggling to plant corn, which is bullish[…]
Corn Outlook: Grain producers are still plagued with cool, wet weather and late planting. As of last week, 63 percent of the corn crop was planted compared to 75 percent for the five-year average. The western Corn Belt is making good progress, but North Dakota, Minnesota, Indiana and Ohio are far behind. This is[…]
Corn Outlook: Corn futures have been tarred and feathered this month because of fund selling. Estimates are that the funds took $100 million off the table during the onslaught of selling in commodities during the first week of May. The trend following funds sold 185 MB of corn during that time reducing their long[…]
Corn Outlook: News this week centered upon the death of Osama Bin Laden, the economy and weather. The economy shows signs of slipping which caused broad based selling in commodities by the funds. This was especially the case in the energies and metals, which lent pressure to the grains. Meanwhile, the eastern Corn Belt[…]
Corn Outlook: Grain producers have been dodging raindrops all month in an effort to plant corn. So far, Mother Nature is winning the battle as only 9 percent of the crop is planted compared to 46 percent a year ago and 23 percent for the five-year average. Conditions are expected to stay soggy in[…]
Corn Outlook: Anymore, normal is merely a setting on a washing machine! Gone are the days when traders looked exclusively at weather, supply and demand for a direction in the grains. Today, they must be aware of the macroeconomic situation and political developments. This week, Standard & Poor lowered their rating on the U.S.[…]
Corn Outlook: The planting intentions and grain stocks reports are in the record book and attention has turned to weather, the economy, and developments in Japan. Aftershocks from the earthquake and severity of the nuclear crisis in Japan are raising concerns that their economy will slip back into a recession. This is increasing anxiety[…]
Corn Outlook: Old crop corn futures surged to a record high this week because of tight stocks and the expansionary monetary policy held by the Federal Reserve. At present, the money supply tips $2.4 trillion. Recently, the Fed’s stated that commodity price gains were not the result of their monetary policy, but rather the[…]
Corn Outlook: Last winter, all traders could talk about was the need to plant additional acres of corn in 2011 to fulfill growing demand. This has developed as the USDA increased their planting intentions estimate 5.0 percent to 92.178 million acres. However, stocks will remain tight as quarterly stocks are down 15 percent from[…]
Corn Outlook: It has been a bumpy ride in grain futures the past couple of weeks because of confusion created by the earthquake in Japan and the unrest in the Middle East. Prices cratered shortly after the earthquake, but have since stormed back. During the sell-off, the trend following funds dumped 275 MB from[…]