Happy Winter Solstice!
Good Morning!
We kickoff the shortest day of the year with Export Sales, 3rd Quarter GDP and Initial Jobless Claims at 7:30 A.M. followed by EIA Gas Storage at 9:30 A.M. The tax-reform bill is going to show we are moving in the right direction with job growth and Unemployment shrinking, which historically shows our economy is on the rise. On the Corn front the March contract is currently trading at 349 ½, which is a ¼ of a cent higher. The trading range has been 350 to 348 ¼. Changing weather forecasts have several markets do the shake & bake, but Old Man Winter will make the market and Jack Frost will be nipping at your toes. We are expected to see snow over the weekend and farmers and investors alike would love to see snow coverage for Mother Nature to take her course and have a great 2018 Planting Season and a plentiful crop to export.
On the Ethanol front the January contract is seeing a mass exodus with Open Interest declining further to 562 contacts while the February contract is rolling and growing to 1,632 contracts. In the overnight electronic session the Feb is currently trading at 1.307, which is .003 lower with 7 contracts traded. The market is currently showing 1 bid @ 1.305 and 2 offers @ 1.310 with investors growing interest on global governments passion to sustain more product when the realization is the glut is over and a lot of more attention will attract more investors and volume.
On the Crude Oil front we are flirting with $60 a barrel. A lot of naysayers did not believe we were even going to be close with fracking and a glut which historically gets eaten up by emerging markets with a healthy appetite such as China, India and Viet Nam just to name a few. Not to mention OPEC production cuts will change the dynamics of the market bias. This Industry is feast or famine and the market will repeat history. As far as fracking and electronic cars as a solution to demand investors that think this is a solution are very shortsighted. In the overnight electronic session the February Crude Oil is currently trading at 5779, which is 30 tics lower. The trading range has been 5819 to 5771.
On the Natural Gas front we have the weekly EIA Gas Storage number today with the Thomson Reuters poll with 24 participants estimating draws anywhere from 107 bcf to 186 bcf with most analyst on the heavy side of draws and the medium of 170 bcf. This compares to the one week of 69 bcf, the one year of 200 bcf and the five year average of 125 bcf. Depending on the weather forecast, and, Baby its Cold Outside we should see some movement to the upside. In the overnight electronic session the January contract is currently trading at 2.627 which is 1 cent lower. The trading range has been 2.662 to 2.568.
Have a Great Trading Day!