CBOT futures closed mixed with only soybean and soybean meal futures posting gains after a volatile trading session which started strong overnight on unfavorable weather but quickly dropped as traders got to their offices.  CBOT futures bounced off the lows in the last minutes of trading on short-covering, especially in CBOT Corn.

Crop condition deterioration came in as expected by the trade – down 3-4 points in the Good/Excellent categories.

 18 Major U.S. States Crop Condition/Progress: CORN Dented = 42 pct vs 84 pct year ago and 61 pct average Iowa= 33%, MN= 22%, WI= 20% Mature = 4 pct vs 38 pct year ago and 17 pct average KY = 22%, TN = 27%, IN = 3%, IA = 2% Rated good/excellent = 56 pct vs 59 pct week ago Rated poor/very poor = 16 pct vs 14 pct week ago

SOYBEANS Set Pods = 92 pct vs 98 pct year ago and 96 pct average Rated good/excellent = 54 pct vs 58 pct week ago Rated poor/very poor = 15 pct vs 13 pct week ago

U.S. pasture conditions are deteriorating. Rated good/excellent = 38 pct vs 41 pct week ago Rated poor/very poor = 34 pct vs 31 pct week ago

Spring Wheat Harvested = 64 pct vs 69 pct average This week is expected to be mostly dry with bears hanging their hope on forecasts for rainfall in the 5-7 day window. The time to benefit from rainfall is slipping away. Tonight’s NWS Maps for 8-14 days has a big BELOW NORMAL RAIN bulls-eye on the prime Corn Belt area.  See Map here.

Wheat futures are basically following corn futures because U.S. prices are not competitive in the world market.  More business is going to the Black Sea exporters.

Technically, corn and wheat futures posted bearish outside down days on their charts.  The NOVEMBER SOYBEAN contract may have posted a Double-top today which could look quite bearish should futures open tonight below today’s low of $13.785 – only 9 cents below the close. See the CHART.

Live Cattle futures failed to hold the morning gains and closed at the day’s lows which is also below the 126.50 chart support mentioned here several times. The next chart support for October Live Cattle is in the 124.00-124.50 area. With funds so long, there is risk that they give up and begin to reduce their positions.  Boxed beef traded mixed today with Choice up 0.43 at 196.10; Select down 0.74 at 181.92/cwt.

Lean Hog futures closed slightly higher on little news.  The Pork Cutout did finish the day up about 50 cent/cwt.

Financial and energy markets were also volatile today as the Syrian situation could create much uncertainty for several more days. The debate over when (September or later?) the Federal Reserve begins to cut its bond-buying program also creates market uncertainty.

Corn Dec -7 475; Mar -6.5 488; Dec14 -5 511

Bean Nov +29 1387; Mar +24 1358; Nov14 unch 1213 Meal Oct +15 443; Mar +12 425 Oil -7 4390

Wheat Dec -7 647; Mar -7 659; JLY -6 660 KC Dec -4 699;  MGE -5 725

Oats -10 330

Rice +4 1579

LC Oct -60 12620; Dec -37 13010; Feb -7 13157 FC Sep +25 15717; Nov +17 15990; Jan unch 15860 LH Oct +37 8800; Dec +22 8497; Apr +40 8640 Milk Sep unch 1783; Oct -12 1807

US$ +.1%

Dow +24 14834 SP +7 1640 NAS +23 3613 Tran +21 6271 VIX -.4 16.61

WTI +80 10845 (10421-10883) Brent +129 11562 Gas -3 286 (282.5-290) NG +10 368 HO +1 314 Eth +9 248

Gold +16 1412 Slvr +80 2426

2-yr +.02 0.42% 5-yr +.03 1.69% 10yr +.07 2.86% (hi near 2.91%) 30yr +.09 3.79%

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