HIGHLIGHTS
· MARKET TREND—Lower with CU: Down $.02; SQ: Down $.0550; WU: Down $.04; KWU: Down $.0325
· MACRO: BOJ policy action, lack thereof, disappoints; yen rallies on the absence of monetary easing. ASIA: Nikkei closes up .56%; Shanghai drops .5% & Hang Seng slips 1.28% on Friday. EUROPE: Mostly higher, UBS AG beats Q2 earnings forecast—DAX up .44% at mid-day; CAC, .15% higher while FTSE edges .09% lower. WALL STREET: Futures look weaker—DOW, -27; S&P, -3; NAS, -1.25. EXTERNALS: The $ Index is .436 lower at 96.285; August Gold is a dime higher at $1,332.40 and Sep crude oil is $.40 weaker at $40.74. Deliveries: 75 SBM; 1,257 SBO, 0 SB
· T-storm Weather: Cool surface-level high pressure keeps maximum temps in the 70s-80s and minimums in the 50s-60s through early next week for most corn and soybeans. Several waves of energy move along the edge of coolness through the weekend, producing pockets of showers and thunderstorms within the central U.S. Scattered 0.25” to 0.75” amounts occur within a large area, but notably higher coverage and amounts focus along the edge of coolness in/adjacent Kansas and the Delta
· Corn: CU Down $.02 @ $3.2925; CZ Down $.0225 @ $3.3650. The funds sold 3 K Thursday
· SB: SQ Down $.0550 @ $9.98; SX Down $.08 @ $9.70. Funds: sold 6 K SB, 3 SBM; 3 SBO. Aug crush, -$.01, $.72; LY: $1.28
· Wheat: WU Down $.04 @ $4.0625; WZ Down $.04 @ $4.3325. The funds sold 4 K
CORN/SORGHUM          
·   December 2016 corn futures closed at $3.38 ¾ Thursday, which is the lowest settlement price for the life of contract
· ATI Research: There is trade talk of further reductions of 2-3 MMT in Brazil safrinhacorn crop. With Asia losing much of last year’s Brazil corn export origination, U.S. PNW could be a major beneficiary from the expanded corn program
· U.S. old-crop corn export sales for week ending July 21 of 17.3 mbu were within trade range of 14-22, up 27% from last week but down 5% from the 4-week avg. Sales for the corresponding week last year were 14.4 mbu
· ATI Research: 5-year avg. shows U.S. corn dough rises approx. 12% from July 24-31; this would boost ‘16 total to 25%
SOYBEANS/WHEAT
· U.S. old-crop soybean export sales for week end July 21 were a negative 51,000 bu.—lowest since week end Jan. 28
· T-storm Weather: Thunderstorms affect a larger area next week; widespread coverage of at least near-normal rain. From Aug. 7-8 on, a warm setup again conducive to thunderstorms; result is continuation of at least near-normal rain
· ATI Research: 5-year avg. show U.S. soybeans blooming up approx. 13% from July 24-31; would boost ‘16 total to 89%
· ATI Research: U.S. wheat export sales for week end July 21-18.6 mbu, down 11% v. 4-week avg. & 28% below last year
· U.S. spring wheat tour ended with a weighted average yield of 45.5 bpa, down 8.1% from 49.5 bpa last year
ENERGY
· Lower: CLU16, -0.40, $40.74; EBU, -0.56; EBU-CLU, $1.38, -$.18; RBU, -.0142; NGU, -.022; HOU, -$.0097
· A notably weaker trend was evident in cash ethanol markets on Thursday: Chicago down 3 3/8; New York off 2 ½; Gulf and Dallas eased 3 ½; Tampa slipped 3 ¼; and LA was 1 ½ lower at $1.63 per gallon
· Ethanol RINs lower: 2014’s off 5/8 to 95 ¾-96 ¼; 2015’s down 5/8 to 95 ¾-96 ¼; & 2016’s declined 5/8 to 95 ½-96
· The Aug RBOB/Aug ethanol inverse was little changed at -$.12480/gal on Thursday
LIVESTOCK/POULTRY   </wbr>
· Choice boxed beef values were 32-cents lower on Thursday and are down $1.94 vs. a week ago
· Dressed steer weight week end July 16: 880 lbs., up 5 pounds v. last week, 868.5 for the 4-week avg. & 884 last year
· USDA mandatory pork carcass cutout value plummeted $2.53 on Thu. to $79.34—the lowest level since April 22
· CME Lean Hog Index was $0.42 lower on Thu. at $74.47. August futures down $2.825 & are $5.62 below the index
Sources: Bloomberg, Dow Jones, AP, T-storm Weather