HIGHLIGHTS
· Market Trend—Corn, Down 3-4; Soybeans, Down 2-3; Wheat, 4 to 5 Lower
· Deliveries: Corn, 0; SBO, 684; Chicago Wheat, 649; KC Wheat, 13; Ethanol, 6
· Favorable U.S. economic #’s pressured Asian markets over-night, fearing the Fed might announce a reduction in its $85 billion/month purchase program at the Dec 18 policy meeting. The Hang Seng fell .07%; the Nikkei lost 1.5% and the Shanghai Composite edged .2% lower. Europe is lower for much the same reason, off .06 to .07% on the major exchanges; good growth expected in the UK, sees 1.4% growth TY versus .6% previously forecast. Gold is $15.50 lower; energies are higher; $ Index, steady. U.S. stock futures suggest a lower opening
· T-storm Weather: Arctic coldness crashes southward in U.S. through Saturday, then re-crashes southward Monday-Wednesday; minimums fall below 0F across a large swath of central/northern Plains and northern Corn Belt. Winterkill occurs in snow-free areas, which primarily occurs in parts of Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska on Friday and Saturday mornings. Heavy ice and snow impact SRW wheat areason Friday. Snowfall of 10” to 18” more likely than previously from southeast Missouri through southern Illinois, southern Indiana and southern Ohio. Ice accumulation over 1.00” is expected in a narrow swath to the immediate south
· Dec Corn Down $.03 at $4.2250; Mar Corn Down $.0350 at $4.33. The funds again bought 5 K
· Jan SB Down $.0275 at $13.2675; Mar SB Down $.0275 at $13.0950. Funds: bought 4 K SB and 2 K SBM along with 1 K SBO
· Dec Wheat Down $.0425 at $6.43; Mar Wheat Down $.0475 at $6.57. The funds sold 3 K yesterday
CORN/SORGHUM
· Export Sales at 7:30 AM CST. Trade expects 33 to 37mbu corn. Watching to see if China makes additional purchases
· T-storm Weather: Key corn areas of central/southern Argentina stay mainly dry through Saturday. Thunderstorms (potentially heavy) return to the region Sunday-Monday, reducing the probability for all corn to be planted
· ATI Research: Some corn export buying may be serving as a hedge against still smaller South American corn acreage
· China has rejected more than 120,000 metric tons in shipments of U.S. corn after finding an unapproved genetically modified strain, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said.
· Weekly ethanol production fell 14 thous barrels per day last week to 913 thous, although that’s still up 9% vs. 2012
SOYBEANS/WHEAT
· Export Sales: Trade expects 33 to 44mbu soybeans; soymeal, 250-350 K MT; soyoil, 20-40 KMT
· T-storm Weather: Heat occasionally affects soybeans in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay over the next 7-10 days, but duration is limited by a series of large powerful systems that cause cool fronts to flow northward every 2-3 days
· ATI Research: Exceptional year-to-date export sales of soymeal; upward revision in USDA annual forecast possible
· Statistics Canada Thursday pegged all wheat production at a record 37.5 MMT, well above trade range of 33.3-35.3
· Export Sales: Trade expects 17 to 18mbu for all wheat. Watching to see if Egypt and/or Brazil bought
· T-storm Weather: Resumption of wetter pattern in Argentina next week to limit wheat harvesting
ENERGY
· Energy markets—all higher: QCLF14,+$0.34 at $97.54; QRBF, +$0.0001; QNGF, +$.012 andQHOF, +$.0040
· Stronger trend noted in cash ethanol markets on Wednesday: Chicago was up 4 ½; Gulf climbed 3; Dallas was 8 firmer; Tampa gained 6; New York advanced another 16; and LA increased 8 ½ to $2.57 ½ per gallon
· RINs firmer: 2012’s up 2 ¾ to 31-33 ½; 2013’s gained 2 ½ to 31 ½-34 ½; & 2014’s were 2 ¾ higher to 32 ½-35 ½
· The January RBOB/December ethanol spread narrowed further in final trading, in 13 ½ cents to $.2392/gallon
LIVESTOCK/POULTRY    
· Choice boxed beef values firmed 30-cents yesterday and are up 75-cents from a week earlier
· The USDA pork carcass cutout value fell $1.24 yesterday and has declined $2.14 over the last two days
· The USDA’s Iowa/Minnesota average cash lean hog price fell $1.82 yesterday to $78.51
· Broiler egg set last week was down just 0.2% from last year, but average set over the last four weeks up 1.0%
Sources: Bloomberg, Dow Jones, AP, T-storm Weather