CBOT futures closed sharply higher on huge short-covering by the speculative funds. As futures break through chart resistance levels and wet weather/forecasts portend declining crop condition ratings on Monday, there’s less selling interest. The July Options on grains and oilseeds expire tomorrow so trading could be volatile going into the weekend (ahead of Tuesday’s key USDA reports).

Cattle futures closed sharply lower adding to Wednesday’s losses. Price fell to the day’s lows within 75 minutes of opening and then made two small rally attempts. The nearby June LC contract bounced back about a dollar/cwt in the afternoon. With the CBOT soaring, CME Feeder Cattle were taken down hard with August and September FC contracts locked down the $4.50/cwt limit; deferred contracts fell even more in the afternoon e-trade. Boxed beef finally turned lower to follow this week’s futures trend. Choice down 0.96 at 255.16; Select down 0.26 at 250.13.

Lean Hog futures had another day of relatively small price movement as traders wait to see what USDA has to say tomorrow about the hog inventory and future production plans. FOB Plant Pork dropped .91 to 82.64/cwt with large moves in all primals but the loin.

Corn Jly +10 376; Dec +12 392 Bean Jly +18 1000; Nov +22 978 Meal Jly +9 337; Oct +8 322 Oil +9 3336 Wheat Jly +14 532; Dec +13 548 KC +11 535; MGE +11 574 Oats +4 261 Rice -8 1004

LC Jun -217 14850; Oct -190 15110; Feb -145 15265 FC Aug -450 limit 21905; Oct -412 21570; Jan -392 20750 LH Jly -7 7465; Oct -20 6272; Dec -25 6062 Milk Jly +6 1661; Aug -3 1682

 

US$ -.1% Dow -76 17890 SP -6 2102 NAS -10 5112 Tran -70 8240 VIX +.75 14.01

WTI -61 5966 Brent -20 6329 Gas -2 203 NG +9 284 HO -1 187 Eth +1 156 Gold -1 1172 Slvr -4 1581

2-yr +.004 0.688% 5-yr +.031 1.713% 10yr +.041 2.412% 30yr +.032 3.178%

Paris Stockyards, Paris KY Weighted Average Report for 06/25/2015

Receipts: 1420 Last Week: 1970 Year Ago: 1367 Compared to last week: Feeder steers 2.00-4.00 lower. Feeder Heifers 3.00-5.00 lower. Slaughter Cows and Slaughter Bulls 2.00-3.00 higher. There was good demand for all classes of feeder cattle. Buyers showed good interest in steer cattle and cattle with favorable condition.

This week’s supply included 44 Replacements, 88 Slaughter, 1288 Feeders, with 56 percent that weighed over 600 lbs. 38 percent steers, 8 percent bull calves, 1 percent Holstein Steers and 50 percent heifers of total recorded feeder supply. 20 head slaughter bulls with 100 percent going to slaughter.