Housing Starts after FED Announcement
This morning we kick off the day with Export Sales, Housing Start and Permits and Initial Jobless Claims at 7:30 A.M. followed by the weekly EIA Gas Storage data.
On the corn front investors are eyeballing rains in Brazil and the forecasts pegged to a record 2017 record corn crop that would reduce U.S. exports. Weather here in the U.S. corn growing states predict that plantings may get off to a slow start. In the overnight electronic session the May corn is currently trading at 366 which is 2 ½ cents higher. The trading range has been 366 ½ to 363 ½.
On the ethanol front there were no trades posted in the overnight electronic session. The April contract settled at 1.536 and the market is currently showing 3 bids at 1.552 and 2 offers at 1.1.573 with Open Interest at 1,670 contracts and the May contract settled at 1.552 and currently showing 5 bids at 1.565 and 2 offers at 1.586 with climbing Open Interest at 1,404 contracts. The market is on pins and needles as President Trump plans to overhaul and restructure government waste and regulation abuses that in the long haul are bad for business opportunities.
On the Crude Oil front the weekly inventories seem to show the OPEC production cuts are starting to rear their ugly head. The past few weeks with surprising builds seem to be a thing of the past if OPEC and non-OPEC nations comply with their agreement. This comes at a time when we have a seasonable bounce to the upside as we will switch Gasoline to summertime blends. In the overnight electronic session the April Crude Oil is currently trading at 4931 which is 45 points higher. The trading range has been 4962 to 4901. Do not be surprised if the market shoots for $50 a barrel in today’s trading session.
On the Natural Gas front the market is getting pummeled in the overnight electronic session as the 10-Day weather forecasts predicts warmer temperatures on the horizon that will change the environment and climate change denier’s after this week’s blast of wicked winter weather. Just joking about that science of global warming or climate change. This morning we have the weekly EIA Gas Storage data and the Thomson Reuters poll of 20 analysts predict draws anywhere from 47 bcf to 72 bcf with the medium at 56 bcf. This compares to builds last week of 64 bcf, the 1-year injection of 13 bcf and the five-year average of draws around 21 bcf. In the overnight electronic session the April contract is currently trading at 2.911 which is 7 cents lower. The trading range has been 2.976 to 2.898.