Good Morning!
With the Crop Tour showing good-to-excellent signs for corn in Minnesota and not so good-to-excellent in parts of Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. Word from farmers in the front lines have Wisconsin looking good but concerns about yields and Illinois and Indiana showing a mixed bag of tricks while Michigan and Ohio is concerned about their crop. Russia’s Wheat prices are higher over the concerns of the harvest in Western Europe, which is Russia’s main competition to export to North Africa and the Middle East. We are hearing reports that paint a mostly healthy picture for the soybeans crop. Back to the Corn in the overnight electronic session the September contract is currently trading at 323 ¾, which is down 1 ½ of a cent. The trading range has been 326 ¾ to 323. Friday will be another big day with Crop Production and USDA Supply/Demand.
On the ethanol front there were no trades posted in the overnight electronic session in this confused market that is following corn, sugar and crude oil prices. The market is also following the political football the EPA is pushing to put more Ethanol in our gas tanks. Let’s leave the foods to the food chain and feed. The September contract settled at 1.428 and is currently showing 1 bid @ 1.422 and 2 offers @ 1.439.
On the crude oil front we have the weekly API data today at 3:30 P.M. and many analysts are predicting we have hit the low for the year and I am in agreement because I did not expect us to break $40 to $38 and change, which was the low in April of this year. In the overnight electronic session the September contract is currently trading at 4305, which is 3 tics higher. The trading range has been 4330 to 4250. Tonight’s API and tomorrow's EIA data loom large as well as weather because this is already an active hurricane season.
On the natural gas front don’t forget to sign up for the webinar this afternoon at 1:30 C.S.T. my brother Phil will be hosting. The market seems pressured in the early going as we prepare for another heatwave courtesy of Mother Nature. In the overnight electronic session the September contract is currently trading at 2.698 which is 5 cents lower. The trading range has been 2.744 to 2.687. I expect further draws on Thursdays EIA gas storage injection number and Friday’s rig count may show that we are attempting to put more back online which continues to paint another bullish picture.
Have a Great Trading Day!