Good Morning!
Looking ahead to a barrage of reports today starting at 7:30 A.M. with the U.S. Trade Balance followed at 9:00 A.M. by Factory Orders and ISM Non-Manufacturing Index. At 9:30 A.M. the API Energy Stocks, which may or may not confirm the bearish build in last night’s API Energy Stocks. Finally, at 2:00 P.M. we have Dairy Products and Dairy Product Sales. Throw in the North Korean’s claim that they successfully tested a hydrogen bomb just goes to show they respect our foreign policy as much as the rogue nation Iran. The markets are reacting in a negative way but this would not be the first time the North Koreans came out with a falsehood.
On the corn front the March contract is trading on the lows in the overnight electronic session with the current price 352 and the trading range has been 3454 ¼ to 351 ¾ so far Maritime traffic on the Mississippi we be stalled for at least another week in hopes signs of the river will continue to crest in some areas. The vessels are trying to keep their batteries alive until the river is open to traffic.
On the ethanol front there were no trades posted in last night’s action. The February contract settled at 1.363 and is currently showing 1 bid @ 1.347 and 2 offers @ 1.374.
On the crude oil front Brent slides to an 11-year low, slower economic growth in China and tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran threatens to hurt prices short term. Kuwait has joined other nations Bahrain, Sudan and UAE just to name a few with cutting of diplomatic ties. In the overnight electronic session the February contract is currently trading at 3477 which is 120 points lower. The trading range has been 3639 to 3462 so far. We could see a bounce at these levels.
On the natural gas front the February contract is trading at 2.314, which is .011 of a cent lower in the overnight electronic session. The trading range has been 2.354 to 2.285. Seasonable cold weather forecast to hit Sunday and beyond and tomorrow's weekly Gas Storage report may bring support and a spike in this market.