The Grain complex suspended the overnight electronic session with the Independence Day Holiday. I hope everyone had a GREAT 4th of JULY weekend! In my travels north I saw corn and soybeans in Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin and quite frankly was not impressed with the growth of the crop for this time of year. As the ground thirst for rain and seeing farmers irrigating is showing me they are dry. The heat dome being forecasted this week will bring 90 degrees and humidity will factor as the replanting’s and late plantings has the corn and soybeans trying to beat the clock and beat the heat simultaneously. The complex will re-open at 8:30 A.M.
On the ethanol front the July contract is headed into expiration while the August contract is currently trading at 1.566 which is 4 cents lower in the overnight electronic session. The trading range has been 1.586 to 1.566. The market will monitor the grain opening and see if we get a pop in the Energies.
On the crude oil front European Bank Scares are the latest crisis that has hit oil prices. Now that it has been proven that we have more Gas and Oil reserves than Saudi Arabia and Russia shame on this current administration for not embracing the Keystone Pipeline and a less than fruitful relationship with Big Oil who put back profits into research and look what were able to do now. The jobs this would have created as the Energy sector has been one of the few bright spots in this economy, and we would have been importing and exporting oil kind of like a hub. And regardless of the President’s speech to students at the University of Miami, “you can’t drill yourself out of it.” NEWSFLASH! WE DID! In the overnight electronic session the August crude oil is currently trading at 4752 which is 147 points lower. The trading range has been 4935 to 4743 so far. Now that the U.S. surpassed the Saudis and Russians in reserves we need rigs to get it out of the ground. The market still looks heavy as we digest the news over the nice long weekend.
On the natural gas front the market is selling off on profit taking and the Rystad Energy estimate on reserves. We are expecting a heat dome in the coming days that will have air conditioners working overtime. This is a day to buy cheap calls . In the overnight electronic session the August crude oil is currently trading at 2.857 which is 13 cents lower. The trading range has been 2.945 to 2.848.