The Morning Vibe

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 10:57 | Categorized as

19/12/11 -- The markets have started the week in positive mode with Globex wheat up 5-7 cents, corn up 7-8 cents and soybeans extending Friday night's gains by a further 12-14 cents. London wheat is following suit, with front month Jan 12 up three whole pounds by 10.30 am London time.

South American weather is the main reason, although some forecasters are calling for rain towards the end of the week.

"Two week rain totals of 1-2+ inches in all but NE Argentina and extreme S Brazil. 10-20 inches crosses C Brazil! 3-4 inches in parts of Buenos Aires," say QT Weather.

The death of nuclear-armed North Korea's head honcho Kim Jong-il over the weekend has caused a few jitters as it raises a questions over stability in the region. The dodgy self-proclaimed "Great Leader" appears to have an assortment of potential successors amongst his sons born to a motley crew of ex-wives, dancing girls and concubines.

The European debt issue is an ever present millstone around the neck of commodities in general however. Data from the ECB today reveals investors pulling a net EUR4.2 billion out of the eurozone during September. It seems unlikely that trend will have done anything other than accelerated in the ensuing months of chaos and uncertainty.

It seems likely that we will be in for a low volume week, with short-covering ahead of the Christmas holidays and year-end possibly seeing a bit of a rebound in the grains sector.