Iran Nuclear Announcement Today
We have Last Trading Day in May Cotton and API Energy Stocks at 3:30 P.M. This should be a significant day in the Energy sector with the Trump Administration announcing the future of the Iran nuclear deal. John Kerry has met with at least one Iranian official at the United Nations and is off to Europe in an alleged attempt to salvage the deal. If this is true, it is a direct violation of the Logan Act. This forced the White House hand to speed up the announcement that was scheduled to come out on Friday.
When the news hit the wires, investors and traders cleared the decks in Energies and took profits as they are not sure what to expect from our European Allies - on board or not. They may privately be applauding the White House but publicly they seem interested in salvaging the deal. In the overnight electronic session, June Crude Oil is currently trading at 7002 which is 72 points lower. The trading range has been 7027 to 6967.
On the Corn front we have NAFTA talks this week with the U.S. pushing a hard line. The question is will there be enough time to get a resolution especially with Midterm elections in front of us? Monday’s Crop Progress report showed Corn plantings 37% complete. Rains are forecast in the five-day weather outlook. There should be periods of dryness with scattered rains this week but heavy rains forecast over the weekend. We could see Seedings completed at a rapid pace this week. In the overnight electronic session the July Corn is currently trading at 401 ½ which is ¾ of a cent higher. The trading range has been 402 to 399 ¼.
On the Ethanol front there were no trades posted in the overnight electronic session. The June contract settled at 1.477 and is currently showing 1 bid at 1.478 and 2 offers at 1.483 with Open Interest at 1,048 contracts.
On the Natural Gas front the market continues to defy gravity. In the overnight electronic session the June contract is currently trading at 2.761 which is 2 cents higher. The trading range has been 2.773 to 2.732.