HIGHLIGHTS
· MARKET TREND—Higher: CN, up $.0225; SN, up $.0775; WN, +$.04; KWN, up $.0450
· MACRO—Higher commodity prices and some positive numbers from yesteday’s Philly fed manufacturing survey lift equity markets. ASIA—Higher: Nikkei, +0.19%; Shanghai, +0.03%; Hang Seng, +0.15%. EUROPE—Higher: DAX, +0.32%; FTSE, +0.46%; CAC, +0.56%. Wall Street-Futures are higher: DOW, +24; S&P, +5; NAS, +13.25. EXTERNALS: Sep $ Index, -0.395 @ 97.190; June Gold, +0.7 @ $1,254; June Crude,+$0.53 @ $49.88
· T-storm Weather: A powerful system and strong cool front move across the central U.S. through Sat-.-Sun. Rain amounts of 1.00”-3.00” result across a large area with highest totals across the Delta, southwest half of the Corn Belt, & adjacent areas of the central & southern Plains, including some wet wheat. Exceptions include spring wheat in the northern Plains where little or no rain occurs, & corn/wheat in the southwestern Plains. Temps turn much cooler from northwest to southeast through the period
· Corn: CN up $.0225 @ $3.6825; CZ up $.0225 @ $3.76. The funds sold 20 yesterday
· SB: SN up $.0775 @ $9.5250; SX up $.0625 @ $9.51. Funds: sold 15 SB, 8 SBM, 7 SBO. Board Crush: $.89, +6; LY; $1.02
· Wheat: up $.04 @ $4.2975; WU up $.0350 @ $4.4325. The funds sold 2 K
CORN/SORGHUM
· ATI Research: The 5-year avg. for U.S. corn emergence increases approx. 19% from May 14-21 to 55%
· T-storm Weather: Most U.S. corn areas are cooler-than-normalMay 22-26. Showers accompany coolness, especially when a strong front passes around May 23; 0.20”-0.40” for northwest half of Corn Belt, 0.40”-0.80” for southeast half
· U.S. old-crop corn export sales week end May 11: 27.8 mbu, more than double last week’s 10.9 & +1% v. 4-week avg.
· December 2017 corn futures on Thursday closed at $3.84, the lowest settlement price for the contract since April 24. One year ago, December 2016 corn futures settled at $3.97 ¼
SOYBEANS/WHEAT
· July 2017 soybean futures Thu. ended at $9.44 ¾--lowest closing price since April 8, 2016. A sharp decline in Brazil’s currency on Thu., which results in a higher domestic soybean price, could fuel aggressive cash sales by Brazil farmers
· ATI Research: The 5-year avg. for U.S. soybean emergence increases approx. 12% from May 14-21 to 21%
· U.S. old-crop export sales of soybeans week end May 11: 13.1 mbu, up 10% v. last week but down 6% v. 4-week avg.
· ATI Research: 5-year avg. for U.S. spring wheat emergence increases approx. 15% from May 14-21 to 59%
· T-storm Weather: The percentage of U.S. spring wheat that was wet over the past 30 days is the lowest since 2013
· Export sales of U.S. wheat week end May 11: 9.1 mbu for 16/17 vs. 6.4 last year. 17/18, 14.4 mbu v. 21.1 in 2016
ENERGY
· Higher: CLM17, -$0.53 @ $49.88; EBN, +0.42 @ $52.93; EBN-QCLN, -.12; RBM,+.016; NGM, +.027; HOM, +.0168
· Cash ethanol markets were mixed on Thursday: Chicago up 5/8; New York down ¾; Gulf firmed ½; Tampa fell 3; Dallas declined 2; but LA was unchanged at $1.58 ½ per gallon
· Ethanol RINs posted gains on Thursday: 2016’s and 2017’s firmed 1 ½ to 55-57
· The June RBOB/June ethanol spread tightened $.0034 Thursday, to +$.14330/gallon, premium RBOB
LIVESTOCK/POULTRY    
· Choice boxed beef values declined 96-cents on Thursday to $247.21 , but are still 35-cents higher vs. last week
· Moderate cash cattle trade surfaced on Thursday in Kansas and Texas at $134--$3.50 to $4.00 lower than last week
· USDA mandatory pork carcass value was 73-cents higher on Thursday at $86.40, and is up $5.12 vs. a week ago
· CME Lean Hog Index firmed $0.78 on Thu. to $74.92. June futures were $0.25 higher and are $4.23 above the index
Sources: Bloomberg, Dow Jones, AP, DTN, T-storm Weather