Taxation Without RepresentationGood Morning!
Today is the day when tax reforms comes to a vote. There is no secret to the recipe that we have had growth the last 11 months with entitlements and big government on the sidelines. With employment and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rising and big government and entitlements shrinking we have realized a growing trend in 2017 that we have not seen in ten years or to be blunt, in a decade. This morning we kickoff the day with Housing Starts & Permits at 7:30 A.M., of course all eyes will be on the vote on tax reform, we also have Milk Production at 2:00 P.M. and API Energy Stocks at 3:30 P.M., which I anticipate a bullish number as we move closer to the Winter Solstice. Today is the Last Trading Day for the January Crude Oil contract which is the last chance to cover.
On the Corn front the whispers on the street right now is weather in South America and talk of a plentiful Brazil crop and weather monitoring of rains in Argentina which continues to pressure the market with a further drop in U.S. exports. In the overnight electronic session the March Corn is currently trading at 347 ¼, which is a ¼ of a cent higher. The trading range has been 347 ¾ to 346 ½.
On the Ethanol front there were no trades posted in the overnight electronic session. The January contract settled at 1.269 and is currently showing 1 bid @ 1.257 and 1 offer @ 1.263 with Open Interest on the decline at 962 contracts.
On the Crude Oil front I expect a short covering rally going into tonight’s and tomorrow’s weekly inventory data and also a long Christmas weekend where investors will not risk being short. In the overnight electronic session the February Crude Oil is currently trading at 5753, which is 31 points higher. The trading range has been 5759 to 5720.
On the Natural Gas front the market soared yesterday on weather forecasts of an Arctic blast that is supposedly going to materialize next week This market needed a shot in the arm to take it out of the doldrums. In the overnight electronic session the January contract is currently trading at 2.730, which is 1 ½ of a cent lower. The trading range has been 2.765 to 2.698.
Have a Great Trading Day!