The CBOT closed early for the 3-day weekend. Corn and soybean futures closed lower and near the day’s lows on long liquidation amid a generally bearish situation of above-normal crop conditions and favorable weather forecasts. Will Sunday night’s weather forecast still support this bearish scenario?

Wheat futures closed higher as Chicago wheat failed to break below chart support set with the February 2014 lows. With funds short CBOT Wheat, this encouraged more short-covering in Chicago with KC/MGE following along today after hitting new lows for the move yesterday. Today’s wheat export sales were also above expectations.

Cattle futures closed higher as boxed beef values strengthened this week along with $2/cwt gains in the cash steer price. Until the consumer/retailer quits “paying up” for beef, cattle futures are likely to rise more. For perspective, the nearby Live Cattle futures price has risen from $136 in late May 2014 to $155 today.

Lean Hogs are strongly higher as bullish momentum continues. Cattle and beef prices are rising and there’s no sign that broiler production is accelerating to meet demand. Enjoy the 4th of July meat specials at your local grocery.

A strong jobs report this morning helped US stocks to hit new record highs. Treasury Yields were surprisingly stable today, but had risen sharply the past two days. Some analysts say the bond market is “smarter” and acts before the equity markets.

Corn Sep -3 409; Dec -3 415; Dec’15 unch 445 Bean Aug -15 1300; Sep -13 1167; Nov -8 1133; Nov’15 -11 1137 Meal Aug -9 418; Oct -3 363 Oil +10 3867 Wheat Sep +4 579; Dec +5 604; Jly’15 +4 653 KC +5 687; MGE +10 675 Oats +4 351 Rice -11 1358

LC Aug +267 15500; Oct +122 15690; Feb +27 15575 FC Aug +142 21762; Oct +147 21885; Mar +130 21185 LH Jly +92 13172; Oct +165 11675; Feb +170 9605 Milk Jly +13 2138; Aug +20 2058

US$ +.3%

Dow +92 17068 SP +11 1985 NAS +28 4486 Tran +62 8295 VIX -.50 10.32 -4.6%

WTI -42 10406 Brent -22 11102 Gas -1 302 NG +3 439 HO -2 293 Eth +3 209

2-yr +.024 0.512% 5-yr +.028 1.740% 10yr +.013 2.641% 30yr +.002 3.470%

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