BASIC & RECENT MARKET INFO

Last week’s comments compared put option value changes with the price change of the underlying futures contract over a four-week period. The obvious conclusion was a futures hedge position would make or lose money faster than an option, but an option would never require a farmer to make a margin call. We recommend the HTA or Forward contract as the primary pricing tool and the puts as a secondary marketing tool to add value to the HTA. The week ending last, Friday (July 1st),

Tidbits Biofuel: The U.S. House has passed the year-around E15 legislation. Now to the Senate, ​where it needs 60% of votes, and get a signature ​from President Donald Trump to be enacted. However, opinions are divided. Some experts believe that increased domestic corn consumption will help farmers who produce corn, while others believe the bill will increase fuel costs, further increasing expenses and pressure soybean producers. The U.S. PPI, producer prices index, soared 1.

Very few people understand the relationship between the price change of a futures contract and the resulting price change of its options. For the past ten weeks, we explained how the daily price change of the 2022 September CBOT wheat futures contract impacted the value of its $9.00 and $10.00 put options. Now that we have explained the option vocabulary, the concept of options on futures contracts and a detailed day by day explanation of price action, now we will accelerate

Grain market summary of price outlook, seasonal situation, fundamental & technical analysis with our recommendations for corn, soybeans and wheat (Soft Red Winter, Hard Red Winter & Spring), also for inputs like fuel and fertilizer for past week Wednesday to Tuesday. Read about our approach to this report. We provide three different marketing plans (in order of decreasing our preference). The marketing decision is yours to make, obviously you can mix those plans, change the s

Tidbits Yesterday’s S&D was decided bullish for wheat, friendly for soybeans and longer term friendly for corn because the world corn carryout on 31 August 2027 is projected to be a 77 day supply. Four years ago this week, December corn traded to $7.66 with the world new crop corn carryout projected to be a 94 day supply. Granted, the U.S corn carryout that year was projected to be 34 day supply whereas this year’s domestic new crop corn carryover is projected to be a 44 day

Old crop carryovers were just about as expected for everything except world wheat was 3.8 million mts less than expected and 2.8 million mts less than the lowest estimate. That small old crop wheat carryover and short new crop production made the new crop wheat world carryover just above the lowest estimate and well below expectations. World new crop corn carrover was 9.2 million mts less than expected. Note the world corn carryover has been relatively tight for several y

Tidbits The USDA will release its May S&D at 11 AM Central today, which will include the first of 36 monthly estimates for the 2026/27 crops. Flash Sale: Yesterday morning, the USDA announced the sale of 220,000 mts of old crop corn, 160,000 mts of new crop corn to Mexico and 128,000 mts of old crop to South Korea. China’s annual inflation accelerated to 1.2% in April 2026 from 1% in the previous month, exceeding market expectations of 0.8%. President Trump will arrive in Chi

Tidbits After Iran rejected the U.S. proposal to end the war, on Sunday, President Trump rejected Iran's counter response to the U.S. proposal. Crude oil opened $2.77 higher at $98.19 last evening and then traded as high as $98.85 in the first hour of trading and higher from there. Iranian state media said the response focused on ending the war on all fronts and on the safety of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz without indicating how or when the waterway might reopen

World Free-On-Board Grain & Oilseed Prices for May 9, 2026

It's our weekly U.S. grain market analysis and outlook for corn, soybeans and wheat, including traders positioning, basis bids tracking, crush margins, weekly news wrap-up and comments. The Dow Jones Index settled on Friday at 49,609, +110 points for the week. Crude oil settled at $94.68, -7.82. Dollar Index settled at 97.84, -0.37. Baltic Dry Index (a shipping freight-cost index) settled at 2,978, +248. Corn July futures settled at $4.71¼, -9¢ for the week. December corn set

Tidbits Brazil: Weekend comments from AgrInvest Commodities: Weather models have reduced expectations for widespread rainfall in Goiás and Minas Gerais, while concerns are growing about possible frosts in southern Brazil over the weekend, especially in areas growing second-crop corn in Paraná. In the physical market, Goiás is expected to register lower production, while domestic consumption continues to advance with the expansion of corn ethanol, reducing Brazil's export pote

The corn market should be in corrective mode for the time being, but anything can happen. The Elliot wave count indicates that we just completed the 3rd wave higher, and the 4th corrective/backfill wave is currently working. Ultimate support should be at 453.0 (July contract) based on the 1st leg swing high price. The Elliot wave rule currently working is that the 4th corrective wave should not trade below the 1st impulse wave high. However, you will notice on the chart that

Tidbits Fuel: The Department of Treasury has scheduled a public hearing for 27 May on the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit. The proposed rule defines eligibility, emissions rates, and certification requirements. California’s year-end data has just been released. Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) consumption reached 119.5 million gallons in 2025. U.S. Economy: Yesterday, the S&P 500 rose nearly 1% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.7% as both indexes made new highs. The Dow J

Tidbits Iran’s military said United States forces targeted an Iranian oil tanker in coastal waters and a second vessel near the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah port, while U.S. air strikes hit civilian areas in southern Iran. The U.S. military’s Central Command said its naval forces came under Iranian missile, drone and fast-boat attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump described the attacks on Iranian targets as a “love tap”, telling U.S. broadcast media that “

Tidbits Corn, beans, and wheat were smartly lower for the second consecutive day yesterday primarily because crude oil was sharply lower. June futures contract was down as much as $13.61 and finished down $7.19. Lower crude prices mean lower gasoline and diesel prices, reducing the value of biofuel blending stock. However, lower fuel prices are good for the economy. A strong economy will increase demand for fuel and everything else, like livestock that eat feed and all the co

Use Puts with HTA of Forward Contract to Increase Income On Aril 27th, 2022, September 2022 wheat settled at $10.89¾, down 2¾¢. The $10 September put settled at 49½¢, up 2 5/8¢. With the price change in the both futures and the put option at 2+¢, one would think the delta was near 1, which does happen when an option is very deep in-the-money. But the $10 put is not in-the-money at all; at today’s close, the $10 put was 89¾¢ out-of-the-money with a delta of .32, as you can see

Grain market summary of price outlook, seasonal situation, fundamental & technical analysis with our recommendations for corn, soybeans and wheat (Soft Red Winter, Hard Red Winter & Spring), also for inputs like fuel and fertilizer for past week Wednesday to Tuesday. Read about our approach to this report. We provide three different marketing plans (in order of decreasing our preference). The marketing decision is yours to make, obviously you can mix those plans, change the s

Tidbits Fertilizer: Dakota Gas has switched from making diesel exhaust fluid to making granular 46% nitrogen urea at their Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah, North Dakota. The plant’s capacity is 1,100 short tons per day. The USA burns enough DEF each year to meet all of Canada’s nitrogen fertilizer needs. Brazil: Eduardo Vanin of AgrInvest Commodities reported on Monday: “I’m in Goiás this week. Everywhere I’ve been, the corn looks small and stressed. I saw sunflower a

Tidbits The U.S. and Iran launched new attacks yesterday as they fought for control of the Strait of Hormuz. Several merchant ships in the Persian Gulf reported explosions or fires. The U.S. said it had destroyed six small Iranian military boats. Iran attacked and set ablaze a large U.S. military base and oil port in the United Arab Emirates. Crude oil futures were up $4.48 yesterday. U.S. and China tensions took a turn for the worse over the weekend as Bloomberg reported tha

Tidbits StoneX’s fertilizer guy, Josh Linville, reports U.S. price change of various nitrogen fertilizers since 1 March: NOLA urea - 39% higher NOLA UAN - 55% higher Midwest NH3 - 28% higher NOLA DAP - 21% higher NOLA MAP - 15% higher NOLA Potash - 14% higher *NOLA = New Orleans, Louisiana Deliveries to be Assigned Today For Tuesday Delivery on May Futures: March Crush: The USDA reported on Friday that corn crushed for alcohol and other uses was 523 million bushels in March