Wittal: U.S. grains lose momentum of falling dollar

Nov. 23 –– Financial markets found new momentum today and regained most of the losses from last week. The energy sector was rather quiet but ended the day with small gains in both crude and natural gas.  U.S. grain markets started the day with solid gains as speculators tried to push futures in the hopes […] Read more

Wittal: Canola drifts lower

Nov. 19 –– Financial markets were in a bad mood from the start and ended up with losses across the board. Gold was steady today with very little change, up less than a dollar on the day, closing at $1,141.90 on December futures. The energy sector took its cue from the financials and ended down […] Read more


Wittal: Speculative U.S. buying seen drying up

Nov. 18 — Financial markets were quiet and ended down slightly even with the U.S. dollar falling. Gold was steady to up today, closing at $1,141 on December futures. The energy sector was mixed, with crude up marginally and natural gas down on the day. U.S. grain markets started the day in a positive mood […] Read more

Wittal: Speculative buying supports beans, wheat

Nov. 17 –– Financial markets were quiet or down a little today as the U.S. dollar rallied back to regain what it lost yesterday. Gold was steady to unchanged on the day. The energy sector was steady, with crude up just slightly on the day. The U.S. grain markets were mixed, with corn down slightly […] Read more

Wittal: U.S. grains ride market momentum

Nov. 16 — Financial markets showed some real strength today as gold pushed to new highs of $1,139. Reports that the U.S. will keep interest rates where they are helped the U.S. dollar  fall, and news out of Japan that its economy is recovering faster than first anticipated all helped to push markets up past […] Read more


Wittal: U.S. beans support canola futures

Nov. 13 — Markets overall fared a lot better than one would expect for a Friday the 13th. Financial markets regained some of Thursday’s losses and ended up with small gains week over week. The energy sector was down today and for the week, as reduced demand seems to be pulling crude values lower. U.S. […] Read more

Wittal: U.S. trading limited, except in wheat

Nov. 11 — Financial and energy markets remained in a positive mood, finishing with small gains on the day. U.S. grain markets were fairly quiet on limited trading today. The only real trading was taking place in the wheat markets, as traders were trying to do some short covering of positions. The Canadian markets were […] Read more

Wittal: China’s compromise may not restore prices

Nov. 10 — Financial and energy markets were mixed today, with limited economic news of any kind available to give any real direction. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s crop report was a mixed bag of information. Corn production numbers, as well as end stocks and total world stocks, were decreased. U.S. bean production, end stocks […] Read more


Wittal: USDA data may spur volatility Tuesday

Nov. 9 — Financial markets showed solid gains today, as did the energy sector. U.S. grains started off the day in a negative mood but with support from the outside markets were able to finish with gains on the day. Canola ended down slightly due to the two-cent jump in the dollar and no new […] Read more

Wittal: Farmers hauling grain into limited new sales

Nov. 6 –– Financial markets remained steady, closing up slightly over yesterday with no new or exciting news that would spark any interest heading into a weekend. Gold continues to try to break the $1,100 mark but has not been able to close at or above that value yet. The Statistics Canada jobless report showed […] Read more