CBOT Closing Comments

Soybeans

November beans closed the day at 9.26, up 6 ½ cents. Continued Delta rains are deterring early harvesting and keeping nearby cash beans tight. All eyes will be on the weather at the start of next week, with frost potential now being mooted for Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday. Another round of strong weekly export sales from the USDA Friday, shows that demand certainly hasn't gone away. At least until March/April time, the US has the supply side to itself.

Corn

December corn closed at $3.34, down 2 ½ cents. Another bumper corn crop is just around the corner after a summer of largely ideal crop weather. Lingering concerns that Mother Nature might just turn around and bite this crop on the bum at the eleventh hour are limiting the downside for now. Below normal temperatures are forecast from October 1st to the 9th covering most states west of the Mississippi.

Wheat

December wheat finished at $4.49 ¾, down 23 ¼ cents, made new contract lows. Large and small speculators have held a large net short position in wheat for several months now, and it has proven to be a profitable strategy. There is still a lot of talk about regulators tinkering with the terms of the CBOT contract to ensure greater convergence between cash and futures prices. Currently the divergence between CBOT contracts and cash SRW wheat prices is the widest for at least two years.