Overnight market developments

Corn is up around 3-5c overnight on ideas that the ongoing cool & wet conditions over much of the US will continue to hamper planting progress. It seems widely accepted that corn planted after the middle of May is unlikely to yield at its full potential, and with corn acres already called substantially lower in 2008 this should continue to support prices.

Whilst corn does have fundamental & legitimate reasons to rally, I for one don't buy the strength of soybeans at the moment. Nearby beans were up around 22c last night, and are up another 5-6c overnight on ideas that the Argentine strike may resume next week. Now that's all well and good, but why was November up 25c last night and a further 3 1/2c this morning? Exactly how long do the expect the strike to go on?! Fundamentally we have a lot more acres this year according to the USDA's planting intentions report, PLUS the potential for corn that couldn't get in on time also being switched to beans. With the Argy bean harvest still only 50% done and a deal having now been reached on the wheat & beef side I wouldn't be surprised to see the truce extended.

Wheat is up 7c overnight on spillover strength from beans & corn. Overall the US wheat crop is a pretty mixed bag at the moment. I have read some reports of winter wheat fields that haven't really taken being ploughed up & replanted with corn. With corn at $6/bushel I guess that the economics do stack up. Whilst this could be called mildly friendly for US wheat, there are of course still some potentially huge wheat crops to come from all over the world.

I'd still be friendly corn & bearish beans and wheat.