Wheat Options Talk:
One trader says one house put a lot of positions on and it has the market's attention. He says, "But without a doubt, the most glaring development from the last two sessions buried here beneath all the snow and frigid cold was the May 1000/1100 call spreads that utterly dominated the volume Wednesday and Thursday. Vision Trading was the house, and they managed to buy upwards of 10,000 of them in that period, paying from 15 to 16 with mostly size locals taking the other side and just like that creating quite the white elephant in the May open interest, likely from now until the options expire or Vision unwinds. And going away from whenever they are in fact finally finished putting this herculean position on (there's still Friday's session), there will be much speculation as to why they have decided to choose those strikes in that month for that kind of uncommon amount."
Mike
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At the close:
The March corn futures settled 6 3/4 cents lower at $6.62 1/2. The March soybean contract closed 8 1/2 cents lower at $14.35 1/2. The March wheat futures ended 4 cents lower at $8.59. March soybean meal futures settled $0.50 lower per short ton at $386.40. The March soyoil futures settled $0.47 lower at $58.78.
In the outside markets, the NYMEX crude oil is $0.06 per barrel higher, the dollar is higher, and the Dow Jones Industrials are up 20 points.
Mike
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At mid-session:
The March corn futures are 1 3/4 cents lower at $6.67 1/2. The March soybean contract is 3 cents lower at $14.41. The March wheat futures are mixed at $8.63. March soybean meal futures are $0.90 lower per short ton at $386.00. The March soyoil futures are steady at $59.25.
In the outside markets, the NYMEX crude oil is $0.06 per barrel lower, the dollar is higher, and the Dow Jones Industrials are down 9 points.
One analyst says, "The stronger dollar started trading at a lower rate, the demand news tried to recover the markets, then the dollar battled back. End-user and fund buying did drive us back up from a lower start." "But, the market is setback acting mature looking at the dollar strength.The temperatures in the U.S. Plains states, Wednesday night, didn't get quite as cold as forecast, Roose says. "Therefore, the wheat winter-kill damage maybe wasn't as bad as the trade thought. But, it's still a crop that is suffering."
Mike
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At 10:30am:
Corn, soybeans and wheat have all turned higher.
Mike
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At the open:
The March corn futures are 2 1/2 cents lower at $6.66 3/4. The March soybean contract opened steady at $14.44. The March wheat futures opened 13 3/4 cents lower at $8.49 1/2. March soybean meal futures opened $0.10 lower per short ton at $386.80. The March soyoil futures opened $0.02 higher at $59.27.
In the outside markets, the NYMEX crude oil is $0.58 per barrel lower, the dollar is higher, and the Dow Jones Industrials are down 26 points.
The stronger dollar is trumping the friendly Export Sales Report Thursday, analysts say.
Mike
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At 7:30am:
USDA releases mostly friendly Weekly Export Sales Thursday.
For corn, USDA reported total sales at 1.239 million metric tons, while the trade expected between 450 to 750,00 metric tons (mt). For soybeans, USDA reported sales at 4.11 million metric tons, the trade expected 3,500,000 to 3,800,000 (mt). These numbers include the big China purchase last week. Wheat export sales were reported at 565,400 metric tons, and the trade expected 800 to 1,100,000 (mt). Soymeal exports were reported to be 177,900 and soyoil at 5,000.
Mike
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At 7am:
Early calls: Corn flat, soybeans up 1-2 cents and wheat 2-3 cents lower.
Trackers:
Overnight grain markets=Trading mixed.
Crude Oil=$0.77 higher.
Dollar=Higher.
Wall Street=Seen opening lower as Egypt's uprising turns violent. Gunfire is being exchanged between supporters of Egypt's president and the opposition. U.S. non-farm payroll numbers will be announced this morning, investors will be watching.
World Markets=Asia/Pacific higher, Europe stocks lower.
USDA will release its Weekly Export Sales Report at 7:30am CST.
More in a minute,
Mike
