Bear Market?
Chicago Board of Trade grains & oilseeds futures ended sharply ower Friday, with some contracts closing limit down on profit-taking and pressure from a hard fall in soyoil, traders said.
Soybeans fell the maximum allowed by the Chicago Board of Trade after investors sold commodities to raise cash as banks demand more money to back leveraged positions in stocks and bonds.
Profit-taking also was a feature amid worries about the economy, analysts said. U.S. equities tanked after the Federal Reserve approved an arrangement to provide emergency funds to Bear Stearns through JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Bear Stearns is more involved with equities than commodities, but the investment bank's trouble is ""certainly is something that has some sentimental impact" on commodities, an analyst said.
The shares of Bear Stearns, the second-biggest underwriter of U.S. mortgage bonds, plunged as much as 53 percent after the company said its cash position had "significantly deteriorated."
Soybeans fell the maximum allowed by the Chicago Board of Trade after investors sold commodities to raise cash as banks demand more money to back leveraged positions in stocks and bonds.
Profit-taking also was a feature amid worries about the economy, analysts said. U.S. equities tanked after the Federal Reserve approved an arrangement to provide emergency funds to Bear Stearns through JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Bear Stearns is more involved with equities than commodities, but the investment bank's trouble is ""certainly is something that has some sentimental impact" on commodities, an analyst said.
The shares of Bear Stearns, the second-biggest underwriter of U.S. mortgage bonds, plunged as much as 53 percent after the company said its cash position had "significantly deteriorated."
