Most traders are well aware of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s weekly Drought Monitor, but there is a lesser-known NOAA monitor map showing calculated soil moisture, and its seasonal change map shows why traders are so concerned about US crops. The picture is one of way more than normal soil moisture from central Texas … Read More
Cattle Markets Clawing Higher?
Live cattle markets may be in for a repeat of last week’s market and claw its way higher. There is talk of cattle changing hands in Nebraska’s dressed market at $242 per cwt, up about $2 from last week. There also is talk of light sales in Kansas and Texas at $150, about steady with … Read More
Seasonal Beef Demand Dip May Be In
Live cattle futures are declining in part because of investor fears of a seasonal summer decline in beef demand, but the seasonality isn’t great, and last year’s market defied the odds when it went up. The USDA’s boxed beef cutout value fell again Tuesday for the fifth straight day, with the choice cutout falling $2.98 … Read More
Managed Money Goes Long Cattle, Corn
Managed money, or large fund investors, liquidated a net 6,562 live cattle contracts during the week ended last Tuesday to leave themselves net long by only 78,003 contracts, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report. This is the lowest net long position for these traders since the week ended April … Read More
Greece Shaking Up World Economy
In addition to giving the world democracy, Greece is on a course to shake up the global financial world. Greek voters, in a referendum Sunday, rejected creditor demands for more austerity as a way to find a solution to the country’s debt crisis, opening the way to a possible exit from the European Union. The … Read More
Rain, Rain Go Away – For Awhile
If too much of anything is a bad thing, then too much rain is becoming a bad thing for many US grain and soybean producers. “Rain makes grain” is an axiom for grain and soybean traders around the world, but too much rain in parts of the US Midwest has kept farmers out of many … Read More
Cash Cattle Prices Fall Below Year Ago
Cash prices for slaughter steers in the Southern Plains fell below year ago levels last week as the market more closely follows the seasonal pattern than the 2014 trend. USDA data on cash prices shows an average price last week of $147.98 per cwt, down from $150.01 the week before and below $149.80 in the … Read More