Corn and soybean futures closed lower (and near the day’s lows) after being higher in the first hour of pit-trading. The shootings in Ottawa, Canada in/near Parliament turned financial markets south and this seemed to weigh on CBOT futures as traders booked profits amid the rising uncertainty and risk that developed. A stronger US dollar and falling energy futures (rising oil inventory) were also bearish factors. Technically, today’s corn/bean/meal price action looks like bearish reversals. Traders may have been eager to book profits knowing that farmers are getting back into the fields and may begin selling more corn and soybeans. It appears that strong soybean meal demand and a tight pipeline of soybeans have been lifting the CBOT. If the pipeline fills up soon, this nearby demand(bids) should soften.

Wheat futures performed better with price gains in the middle of the day’s trading range. Wheat futures may have held up due to funds covering more of their short position which has been a loser throughout October.

Cattle futures closed moderately higher on ideas of firm cattle and beef markets. Live Cattle charts still show the double-top potential. Can the sharp drop in pork product values cut into consumer demand for beef? Choice beef rose 1.16 to 251.00 and Select beef edged up .14 to 235.07/cwt. To see a chart of the CHOICE beef cutout value since early September, , CLICK HERE.    The Monthly Cattle on Feed report comes out Friday afternoon.

Lean Hog futures closed sharply higher on short-covering despite another day of weaker cash hog and pork markets. December LH futures are at a sharp discount to the cash market so today’s bounce is not out of line. For folks who like pork chops, the price is falling. The FOB Plant Pork cutout dropped 2.88 to 101.16/cwt, led lower by loins dropping 4.39 to 110.11 and hams dropping 5.42 to 94.18. By comparison, on October 1st, loins were quoted at 137.93 and hams at 131.14; the pork cutout was 121.80/cwt.

Corn Dec -3 353 (352-61); May -2 376; Dec15 -2 399 Bean Nov -1 963 (960-82); May -2 985; Nov15 -1 974 Meal -5 338 (335-54); May -3 319 Oil +38 3214 Wheat Dec +3 522; Jly +2 550 (544-56) KC +3 605; MGE unch 569 Oats +3 354 Rice -2 1253

LC Oct +145 16800; Dec +100 16805; Apr +117 16582 FC Oct +50 23945; Nov +125 23517; Mar +100 22735 LH Dec +130 8975; Feb +177 8785; Apr +205 8930 Milk Oct -4 2394; Nov +6 2175

US$ +.5%

Dow -153 16461 SP -14 1927 NAS -37 4383 Tran -174 8312 VIX +1.79 17.87 +11%

WTI -215 8034 Brent -162 8460 Gas -6 215 NG -6 365 HO -5 247 Eth -1 176 Gold -10 1242 Slvr -39 1715

2-yr +.008 0.362% 5-yr +.019 1.429% 10yr +.014 2.222% 30yr +.010 2.995%

KENTUCKY GRAZING CONFERENCE – October 23 WKU Expo, Bowling Green 8 a.m. CDT

KENTUCKY CASH GRAIN PRICES – Click Here 

KENTUCKY LIVESTOCK AUCTIONS --  Click Here 

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