Floor Talk April 18

[Tony_Dreibus]

At the close:

At the close, the May corn futures settled 4 3/4¢ lower at $3.61 3/4, while December futures finished 4¢ lower at $3.86 1/4. May soybean futures finished 7 1/4¢ lower at $9.46, November soybean futures ended 5 1/2¢ lower at $9.56 3/4. May wheat futures closed 1 1/2¢ higher at $4.22. May soy meal futures ended $1.20 per short ton lower at $312.20. May soy oil futures settled $0.66 lower at 31.14¢ per pound.  In the outside markets, the Brent crude oil market is $0.20 per barrel lower, the U.S. dollar is lower, and the Dow Jones Industrials are 100 points lower.

Mike

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At mid-session:

At mid-session, the May corn futures are 4¢ lower at $3.62 1/2, while December futures are 3 1/2¢ lower at $3.86. May soybean futures are 11 1/2¢ lower at $9.41, November soybean futures are 9 3/4¢ lower at $9.52. May wheat futures are 1/2¢ higher at $4.21. May soy meal futures are $2.80 per short ton lower at $310.60. May soy oil futures are $0.55 lower at 31.25¢ per pound.  In the outside markets, the Brent crude oil market is $0.49 per barrel lower, the U.S. dollar is lower, and the Dow Jones Industrials are 159 points lower.

Mike

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At 9AM:

In early trading, the May corn futures are 2 1/2¢ lower at $3.64, while December futures are 2 3/4¢ lower at $3.87. May soybean futures are 11 1/4¢ lower at $9.42, November soybean futures are 9 3/4¢ lower at $9.52. May wheat futures are  3/42¢ higher at $4.21. May soy meal futures are $2.60 per short ton lower at $310.80. May soy oil futures are $0.68 lower at 31.12¢ per pound.  In the outside markets, the Brent crude oil market is $0.06 per barrel lower, the U.S. dollar is lower, and the Dow Jones Industrials are 76 points lower.

Deanna Hawthorne-Lahre, StatFutures co-founder and trader, says that the ag commodities market seems comfortable going lower.
“We have base weakness from the weather not being as prohibitive as had been forecasted,” Hawthorne-Lahre says. “Plus, the structure of the funds, who are long beans and short wheat. To the extent that the U.S. could see lost corn acres could go beans, I would be lightening up as well if I were them.”
She adds, “The whole grain complex feels heavy. I have been neutral wheat since it penetrated the $4.00 level several weeks ago, but see little reason for ownership.”
The grain market is expected to remain in a tight trading range, with beans being the most vulnerable to a break, she says.
“With the soybean option market’s volalitility hanging around 15%, this thing is very comfortable what it is doing,” Hawthorne-Lahre says.

Mike

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Soybeans were lower in overnight trading while corn and wheat were slightly higher. Beans lost as rains let up in Argentina, giving growers there a window to harvest their crops. Beans lost 4 cents while corn and wheat were up about a penny. It's too bad the rains won't let up here -- as much as three times normal has fallen in the past couple weeks in much of Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan, and while not a lot of corn is usually planted in the latter yet, the wet fields likely will keep growers from doing anything for a while. And not shockingly, more is on the way with precip expected in much of the upper Midwest this week. When it rains, it pours. 
 
Here's what happened overnight:

Brent Crude Oil = down 0.9%.  

West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil = down 1.1%. 

Dollar = down 0.2%.

Wall Street = U.S. stock futures lower in pre-market trading.

World Markets = Global stocks lower on French election worries.