Good Morning!
With the holiday, Asian markets were mixed and European markets mostly higher with the exception of French Telecom. This morning’s reports are Factory Orders @ 9:00 A.M. and Export Intentions at 10:00 A.M. And in the afternoon at 3:00 P.M. we have the weekly Crop Progress.
On the Grain front the Complex does not seem to muster any type of weather premium even with commercials and funds heavily short. In the overnight electronic session the May Corn is currently trading at 352, which is 2 cents lower. The trading range has been 354 ¼ to 351. Weather forecasted for this week could start a short-covering rally.
On the Ethanol front we are switching to the May contract as April is counting down to expiration. There were no trades posted in the complex last night and the May contract settled @ 1.468 and is currently showing 2 bids @ 1.450 and 1 offer @ 1.468.
On the Crude Oil front the market is following the geo-economic and geo-political winds that are blowing and will definitely be keyed on the April 20th OPEC and non-OPEC countries meeting in Doha, Qatar. Depending on who you talk too, who is going to bring something special to the dance? We already know it will not be the Iranians. But the mere fact these countries are meeting shows me they are painfully aware that they must come to an agreement on Oil production or their economies will fail big-time! In the overnight electronic session the May Crude Oil is currently trading at 3700 which is 21 points higher. The trading range has been 3702 to 3618 and looks like it is ready to gather its legs now. It should be a good day!
On the Natural Gas front cooler weather another falling rig-count of 10 Friday is supportive to the market today. The May contract is currently trading at 2.007 which is .051 cents higher. The trading range has been 2.024 to 1.976.
Have a Great Trading Day!