Corn futures closed strongly higher on a surprisingly good export sales report this morning from USDA.  The closes were within 1-2 cents of the highs.  March gained nearly 2 cents more than July – this bull-spreading, and decrease in carry, should indicate strong nearby commercial demand relative to supply (farmer selling).

Soybean futures managed small gains after trading a wide range today.  Early morning losses turned to nice gains before lunch on technical buying after chart support held.  Futures sold off abruptly in the final 15 minutes of trading.

Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year so export sales activity could be much quieter during this 2-week holiday period.

Wheat futures were little changed on the close after mostly respecting the new contract lows set Wednesday.

Live Cattle futures were little changed on a lack of cash cattle trading out of the feedlots and on beef weakness.  Boxed beef values lost another dollar/cwt today which puts both Choice and Select beef priced around $7/cwt below Monday afternoon’s quotes. The annual Cattle Inventory report comes out tomorrow afternoon.

Lean Hog futures closed down slightly as cash markets were uneventful during the trading day.  The closing pork cutout report showed pork values up about $1.50/cwt so retailers may have been buying before the weekend.  Deferred LH futures moved to new highs as future production remains at risk due to the PED virus continuing to spread.

Corn Mar +6 433; Jly +4 443; Dec +3 450 (446-52) Bean Mar +6 1275; Jly +3 1246; Nov -1 1097 (1088-1104) Meal Mar +2 425; Oct +1 347 Oil -3 3707 Wheat Mar +2 553; Jly unch 560 (557-63) KC +2 611;  MGE -1 597 Oats -9 412 Rice -2 1542

LC Feb +7 14215; Apr unch 14052; Oct +47 13320 FC Mar -52 16870; Apr -37 16910; Aug -32 17067 LH Feb -15 8637; Apr -17 9362; Jun +2 10335 Milk Feb +40 2331; Mar +54 2150

US$ +.6% Dow +110 15849 SP +20 1794 NAS +72 4123 Tran +111 7302 VIX -.22 17.13

WTI +71 9807 Brent -5 10780 Gas +1.5 268 NG -56 490 HO +2 304 Eth +6 189

Gold -20 1242 Slvr -43 1912

2-yr unch 0.36% 5-yr +.01 1.52% 10yr +.02 2.70% 30yr +.02 3.64%

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