Corn and soybean futures closed strongly higher to end the month. This rally is going against the huge short positions the spec funds have. The corn rally basically erased the losses from Friday. Soybeans gained strength from technical buying (last week’s bullish reversal pattern) and strong weekly export inspections reported this morning. Reports of rising soybean rust cases in Brazilian soybean fields from the wet conditions may have lent support. Wheat futures closed mostly higher except for the December CBOT Wheat which was pressured in part by a large amount of “deliveries” against holders of December Wheat contracts. Argentina’s new leader will remove export taxes from corn and wheat in December; the soybean tax will drop 5 points to 30 percent.

EPA finalizes higher renewable fuel levels under RFS  - Click Here      Ethanol mandate for 2016 is 14.5 billion gallons, compared to 13.6 billion in 2014 and about 14.0 billion this year.

Cattle futures closed 1-2 percent lower at 1 pm and then proceeded to weaken more during the afternoon. December LC ended at 129.45 and Jan FC ended at 161.97. With cash fed cattle trading around $126/cwt last week, the December LC contract is at a huge premium. Rising average carcass weights last week suggest a backlog of feedlot cattle. Despite this, boxed beef values were mostly higher. Choice carcasses up 1.25 at 205.65; Select down 0.64 at 194.86. Feeder cattle futures posted bigger losses due to rising feed costs as Live Cattle futures fell.

Lean Hog futures closed weak in the front months and stronger in the deferred contracts. Bearishness in cattle futures probably weighed on this market as well as the fact that December LH was nearly $7.00/cwt above its mid-November lows. FOB Plant Pork gained 1.50 to 73.90 on broad-based strength (+1.29 at midday).

Corn Dec +6 365 (359-66); Jly +5 384; Dec16 +4 395 Bean Jan +8 881 (870-83); Jly +7 895; Nov +6 899 Meal +2 285 Oil +35 2910 Wheat CBOT Dec -6 460; Jly +2 493 (491-98) KC +7 457; MGE +13 523 Oats Dec +16 249; Mar unch 232 Rice -5 1190

LC Dec -177 13005; Feb -150 13235; Jun -135 12377 FC Jan -327 16275;Apr -317 16195; Aug -275 16405 LH Dec -30 5842; Feb -87 5680; Apr -27 6147; Jun +62 7322 Milk Dec +4 1462; Jan +5 1440

 

US$ +.1% Dow -79 17720 SP -10 2080 NAS -19 5109 Tran -114 8101 VIX +1.01 16.13 +6.7%

WTI -3 4168 Brent -29 4457 Gas -2 131 NG +2 223 HO -2 136 Eth +2 149 Gold +8 1064 Slvr +2 1403

2-yr +.008 0.934% 5-yr -.005 1.646% 10yr -.017 2.208% 30yr -.026 2.974%

Lexington Auction Weighted Average Report for 11/30/2015 Receipts: 879 Last Week: 538 Year Ago: 1633 Compared to last week steer calves sold steady except 700-800 lbs short-weaned and fleshy offerings in very light demand. Heifer calves sold steady with light to moderate demand. Yearlings lightly tested. Quality was average through good. Slaughter cows sold steady to weak with light demand and slaughter bulls sold steady with moderate demand.