The corn market closed lower today pressured by the outside market and the lack of fund buying. The December contract closed down about 3 cents in the middle of the daily range. The corn market opened lower and traded about 8 lower early in the session before coming back and trading higher on the day and then settling lower. The outside markets were pressuring the grains with the US$ higher and crude and stocks lower. Those markets did correct some after the grains closed, but with the lack of any new fundamental news, the outside markets seemed to dominate. The export sales before the opening weighed on the corn market, but soybean sales remain good and helped soybeans close higher. Different traders/analysts are saying that the fundamentals just don’t support $4 corn except for maybe ethanol and they point to weak export sales as evidence. The volume was decent at 195,000 and funds were sellers of about 5,000 contracts.

Overnight, corn slipped lower again closing down about 3 cents toward the bottom of the trading range and about 6 cents off the highs of the night. There isn’t much to talk about today as corn remains under pressure unless the funds come in and find value. There are still some major quality issues in the ECB, but nobody can give me an answer on whether or not this is bullish or bearish for corn prices. We continue to hear stories about feeding problems, but some are using a binding agent that is helping, but it makes it much more expensive. The outside markets overnight are going to put pressure on the grains today with stocks and crude lower and the US$ higher. The US$ actually had another error and moved like 700 points higher overnight, but they cancelled out 600 of the 700 points higher. The corn market will start lower this morning and then we will see if we find any support. Yesterday, the $3.90 level was support and we traded down against that last night so we will see if this holds. Don’t forget that we have Dec option expiration today and the flat price could move toward certain strike prices depending on the price action.

Globex Overnight

Contract Last Net Change High Low Volume ZCZ9 391^4 -3^4 399^0 390^4 6021 ZCH10 407^2 -3^4 414^6 406^2 4183 ZCK10 417^0 -3^4 424^2 416^6 205 ZCN10 425^6 -3^0 432^6 424^2 209

Early Opening Calls: off 2-4 cents

Cash Markets -- CIF Corn steady up 3: Nov. +48to +50, Dec. +49 to +51, Jan. +38 to +40, Feb. +40 to +43 ,Mar. +40 to +43, April +40 to +43, May +37 to +40, June +37 to +40, July +37 to +40

TREND:

Corn appears stuck in a trading range of 3.85 to 4.13. Was amazed that corn held as well as it did with the energy component under pressure all day. Buying corn 18 to 20 cents off the Wed highs was easy but this market is not a leader. Trading this range looks like good for the moment, but it looks as if we may be building a base that may escalate into another bull run. The key to the next bull swing would be taking out October’s highs at 4.24 ½. For now, have moved to the N/H to participate in widening spreads. At 17 cents this spread may have 4 to 5 cents left. Getting a lot of company here but see little risk of a major turn so will continue to bear spread small gains.

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