Oct. 30 — Financial and energy markets took some hard hits today as there was limited news available to support the markets, and month-end position-squaring also forced future values lower.
The U.S. dollar jumped almost half a cent today. The Canadian dollar closed down 1.17 cents today at US92.62 cents, down 2.4 cents this week.
The Dow Jones December quote closed down 2,338 points at 9,670 today, down 368 points from last week’s close.
Crude oil closed down $2.87 today at US$77 per barrel, down $3.50 for the week.
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Corn closed down 12-13.4 cents a bushel today, down 31 cents for the week.
Beans closed down seven to 13.6 cents a bushel today, down 28 cents for the week.
Wheat futures were down nine to 12.2 cents a bushel today. Minneapolis December wheat closed down 11 cents a bushel for the day, down 48 cents for the week.
Canola closed mixed, up 50 cents to down $4.90 per tonne today, up $15.60 per tonne for the week.
November Western barley futures closed up $2 at $167 per tonne, up $6 per tonne this week.
Month-end position-squaring and calls for better weather next week pressured grain futures lower heading into the weekend.
Canola showed some bounce late in the afternoon on what’s rumored to be Chinese buying. This led to speculation in the trade that some sort of a compromise must have been agreed to between the Chinese and the Canadian governments in their meetings today about the blackleg issue but no one has been able to confirm anything.
If in fact the blackleg issue has been resolved or the deadline extended beyond Nov. 15, that would be good news for Canadian canola. Our dollar has fallen significantly over the past two weeks, making canola very attractive right now — which should mean that futures should continue to move upward in the short term.
I have talked to producers who were checking their canola bins and found the canola starting to set up in the bin, to the point that it wouldn’t run into the auger. They caught it just in time, as it had not heated yet, but it was too close for comfort.
Check all of your bins; you can’t afford to take a loss like that.
Good luck to those who will be harvesting this weekend; be safe.
That’s all for this week. — Brian
— Brian Wittal has spent over 27 years in the grain industry, including as an elevator manager and producer services representative for Alberta Wheat Pool, a regional sales manager for AgPro Grain and farm business representative for the Canadian Wheat Board, where he helped design some of the new pricing programs. He also operates his own company providing marketing and risk management advice for Prairie grain producers. Brian’s daily commentaries focus on how domestic and world market conditions affect you directly as grain producers.
Brian welcomes feedback and information on market conditions in your area, such as current offering prices, basis levels, trucking premiums and special crops contracts. Contact Brian today.
