Earnings Expirations and Reports
We kickoff this NFL Draft Day with Advanced Durable Goods, Export Sales and Jobless Claims at 7:30 A.M. followed by the EIA Gas Storage at 9:30 A.M. It is also Last Trading Day on May Natural Gas. The Grains staged an impressive rally in yesterday’s trading session. In the overnight electronic session, the May corn is giving a little back, currently trading at 385 ¾ which is ¾ of a cent lower. The trading range has been 386 ¾ to 384 ½. The weather forecasters are predicting a break in the weather in the Mid-West and we should see a substantial percentage of corn and soybeans planted. On the Ethanol front, the June contract posted a trade at 1.467 which is .003 lower. 10 contracts changed hands with the market currently showing 1 bid at 1.470 and 1 offer at 147.4 and Open Interest at 830 contracts.
On the Crude Oil front, the market is rolling along this morning with the June contract currently trading at 6862 which is 57 points higher. The trading range has been 6868 to 6796. Oil majors are abandoning Venezuela as two Chevron (NYSE:CVX) employees were arrested for not signing a contract which the government was offering for equipment at inflated prices. Good luck keeping the lights on. We also have geopolitical tensions in the Middle-East, rising demand both domestically and globally, which is a sign of a strong economy, and the emerging markets on the move. We also have tight supplies and problems keeping up with demand.
On the Natural Gas front, the May contract expires today and we have the weekly EIA Gas Storage data. The Price Group is expecting a build of 5 bcf. The Thomson Reuters poll of 21 analyst participating expect draws anywhere from 22 bcf to builds of 9 bcf. This compares to the one-year build of 71 bcf and the five-year average build of 60 bcf. In the overnight electronic session the June Natural Gas is currently trading at 2.805 which is .002 of a cent lower. The trading range has been 2.818 to 2.804.