Dec. 1 –– Outside markets showed good strength, with gold reaching new all-time highs and the Dow Jones hitting its highest level so far for 2009. The U.S. dollar continued to drop, which helped spur buying of commodities.
Grains followed the momentum, but that soon stalled out and sent things back down, with some grains holding onto small gains while others ended up with losses for the day.
Gold closed up $17.90 at $1,199.70.
The U.S. dollar closed down almost half a cent today. The Canadian dollar closed up 1.2 cents today, at US95.8 cents.
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The Dow Jones December quote closed up 126 points at 10,460 today.
Crude oil closed up $1.09 today at US$78.37 per barrel.
Corn was down two to four cents a bushel today. Beans were mixed, up one cent to down 3.4 cents a bushel today.
Wheat markets were down one to five cents a bushel today. Minneapolis December wheat futures were down five cents a bushel today.
Canadian canola futures were up $4.70-$13.10 per tonne today.
January Western barley futures were unchanged, closing at $160.50 per tonne today.
Speculative buying sent wheat futures up with double-digit gains early in the trading day, but a lack of support by commercial traders soon led the futures lower. The trade really doesn’t see any reason for wheat values to go higher with the large world stocks available at this time.
The corn harvest is lagging behind at 79 per cent complete, about 20 per cent behind normal, which has some concerned that the rest of the crop may not get harvested if there are any further weather delays.
The grain markets seem to be overbought but are still trying to slowly push upward as speculative buying is supporting them for the time being. We will be seeing a correction here sooner than later as the Christmas holidays approach. No doubt the speculators will want to pull profits before the holidays, which will trigger a hard slide for most, if not all, grains for the near term.
Canola continues to defy the market. The dollar was up, beans were down and canola still showed gains on the day. I can’t see this continuing with the StatsCan report coming on Thursday. I gotta think we’re near the top once again!
That’s all for today. — Brian
— Brian Wittal has spent over 27 years in the grain industry, including as an elevator manager and producer services representative for Alberta Wheat Pool, a regional sales manager for AgPro Grain and farm business representative for the Canadian Wheat Board, where he helped design some of the new pricing programs. He also operates his own company providing marketing and risk management advice for Prairie grain producers. Brian’s daily commentaries focus on how domestic and world market conditions affect you directly as grain producers.
Brian welcomes feedback and information on market conditions in your area, such as current offering prices, basis levels, trucking premiums and special crops contracts. Contact Brian today.
