In the News

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WEEKLY COMMODITY HIGHLIGHTS

Nearby Futures	Weekly Change	Friday's Close	Year Ago
Corn	-0.0050	3.7450	3.6550
Soybeans	+0.1500	10.4750	10.1150
Wheat	-0.0725	4.6425	4.3800
Cattle	-2.80	124.85	123.08
Hogs	+3.22	71.38	66.58
Cotton	+4.18	81.34	75.02
Milk	-0.23	13.87	16.87
Crude Oil	+1.99	63.54	54.45

Soybean futures surged as traders focused in on crop losses in Argentina due to drought. Key growing areas have been hot and dry since late fall, and with little relief on the way, the reality of smaller crops is starting to set in. The soy complex continued to be led by soybean meal. Corn remained slow to follow soybeans higher, but Argentina crop losses are a concern here as well. Speculative funds have re-emerged as buyers in the grains complex, as funds have not established net long positions in corn and soybeans with a wave of buying over the past couple weeks. Concern about export demand is limiting the upside. USDA's 2018-19 projections at its annual Ag Outlook Forum were not a major market factor, but reaffirmed the possibility that soybean acres will top corn plantings this year. Domestically, the weather story remains drought in the southern Plains, as last week saw some relief in eastern hard red winter growing areas but not in western areas. The big gainer in the ag complex last week was cotton, as bulls reasserted themselves in nearby months, sending them to three-week highs. Gains in the December contract were smaller, but still enough to establish a new contract high.

In the livestock complex, lean hog futures surged throughout the week on support from renewed strength in wholesale pork prices and technical buying. Optimism about demand has again eclipsed concerns about large hog supplies. The composite pork cutout is up nearly 6% from a recent four-month low and is little changed from last year, despite increased production. Live cattle futures, meanwhile, remained erratic. After rallying to new three-month highs early in the week, they turned south on Wednesday, and that decline was followed by weaker Plains cash trade. Traders were also positioning ahead of Friday's Cattle on Feed report, which ended up being mildly bearish.

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