Headlines:

  • Daylight Savings Time ends November 6th
  • Presidential Election is set for Tuesday November 8th
  • The USDA WASDE Report is scheduled for November 9th
  • Cocoa futures hit 3-year low amid high hopes for West Africa crop
  • New York cocoa futures fell over 4%, plumbing three year lows, as the December/March spread collapsed indicating weakening near-term demand. The main cocoa crop in West Africa, where most of the world’s supply originates from is underway, and the news for production has been good. “The weather in West Africa has featured a lot of rain, and West African production in the end should be stronger,” agreed Jack Scoville, at Price Futures Group. “Production from the region have been high, and seems to be going higher.”

 

Summary:

The outcome of the US elections is only a few days away, as is the USDA WASDE report’s release. The Grain market price action continues to be mixed ahead of these events and the key right now is perhaps how the markets will respond to the USDA yield figures against the perceived strong demand. Today December Corn finished the day unchanged from yesterday’s close. March and July Corn were off 0.25 and 0.50 point respectively. Beans and Wheat were also essentially flat when the dust settled today. Jan through July Beans ranged from 0.75 to 1.75 points on the positive side while December through July Wheat ranged from 0.50 to 1.75 points in the positive as well.

On the lighter side of things, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series after a drought of over 100 years since the last time it won the crown. The parade was today at 11am Central time. It is probably not a far stretch to assume that today’s parade contributed to the light volume that was seen in the grain markets given that the CME Group members would not pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity to be part of the festivities.

In other markets, Crude Oil Futures continued its decline breaking the September 20th low and reaching prices that were last seen in early August. The US Dollar was also softer today backing off of earlier gains. It is now in an oversold position and may find some support near range of 96 to 96.64.

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