Corn May -6 335; Jly -7 339; Dec -10 347 (347-59)

Bean May -23 863; Jly -22 867; Nov -14 863 (861-78)

  Meal -7 315

  Oil -96 2605

Wheat May -18 550; Jly -15 548 (544-67); Dec -13 560

   KC -18 475; MGE -15 524

Oats -4 260

Rice +2 1405

 

All livestock futures contracts closed down the daily limit.

LC Apr -450 9732; Aug 8910; Oct 9245

FC Apr -450 11742; Aug 12440; Oct 12490

LH Apr -300 4920; Jun 5732; Aug 6240

Milk Apr -4 1445; May +38 1312

By the red color of this page, you can see that today’s price action was brutal. CBOT futures closed sharply lower and near the day’s lows. Futures were pressured by bearish outside markets (equities, energy) and aggressive selling by the speculative funds. Corn continued to get bad news from the ethanol market. Weekly ethanol production dropped 17% and ethanol stocks hit a record high. Gasoline consumption was down nearly 30%. Old-crop corn fell to match previous contract lows, while December dropped sharply to set a new contract low. Soybean futures fell far below the recent sideways trading range as both meal and soybean oil posted big losses. U.S. isn’t selling enough beans or meal to China. It’s reported that Brazil will have a record March for soybean exports. Having old crop soybean prices lose 8-9 cents/bu relative to November is a bearish sign. These markets need a recovery in energy prices and big Chinese purchases.

Cattle futures closed down the daily price limit as boxed beef values continue to slide lower and cash cattle prices traded $112, down $8/cwt from last week. Choice beef fell 3%, or 7.30, to 235.85 and Select slid 2.06 to 226.90. In the background, traders worry that sick employees will cause packing plants to temporarily shut down and create a backup in feedlots. As more people become unemployed and the economy contracts, beef and other protein demand will decrease. Tomorrow, LC will have the $4.50 limit and FC will expand to $6.75/cwt limit.

Lean Hog futures closed limit down today as traders remain bearish on pork values and hog prices. FOB Plant Pork lost 2.99 to 62.05 as all cuts but the ham were cheaper. Belly value lost 10% to a record low of 34.08 cents/lb. Traders have the same concerns for pork demand as they do for beef. LH futures will have an expanded limit of $4.50 tomorrow.

US$ +.5% 99.47

Dow -974 20944

SP -114 2470

NAS -340 7360

Tran -380 7353

  VIX +3.52 57.06

 

WTI -17 2031

Brent -161 2474

Gas -5 55

NG -5 159

HO -7 93

Eth -9 82

Gold -5 1578

Slvr -17 1393

 

2-yr 0.243%

5-yr 0.372%

10yr 0.602%

30yr 1.246%

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