By: NATHAN STUEDLE
GRAINS:
March corn closed up 7 cents and May corn was up 6 1/2 cents. January soybeans closed up 17 3/4 cents and March soybeans were up 16 1/4 cents. March KC wheat closed up 5 3/4 cents, March Chicago wheat was up 6 cents, March Minneapolis wheat was up 1/2 cents.
It sure didn't take long for traders to return from holiday and swiftly reject the ugly price action seen through the New Years week, with soybeans leading the way with the strongest daily move for the March contract since Nov. 17. Corn and wheat futures were no exception to the buyer's market on Monday, putting in strong daily moves higher as well. Outside markets on Monday were mostly higher too, with energy stocks rising following the weekend U.S. military operation in Venezuela. Safety investments such as gold were higher also. Lastly, crude oil, gasoline, and diesel futures were all higher as for the time being the market is not expecting a sudden influx of supply from Venezuela following this weekend's regime shift, especially amid a pause in output increases from OPEC members reported over the weekend as well.
LIVESTOCK:
The live cattle complex continued to trade higher into the new week following last week's surge. But more than anything, traders seem to be hitting the ground running to support the complex and eyeing the fact that the market's long-term trajectory is bullish. Friday's advancement above the market's 100-day moving average was a significant move, as that's been a challenging threshold that the market hasn't traded over for the last two months. New showlists appear to be somewhat higher in Kansas, but higher in Texas, and Nebraska/Colorado. Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $4.06 ($354.03) and select up $2.63 ($349.55) with 57 loads (41.75 loads of choice, 4.52 loads of select, 4.31 loads of trim and 6.48 loads of ground beef).
With the support of the live cattle complex, the feeder cattle contracts traded substantially higher as support seems to be the market's overarching theme. It will be especially interesting to watch feeder cattle sales early this week, as the last real test seen in the countryside was the week before Christmas, and since then, the futures market has gained substantial ground.
Like the cattle complex, the lean hog contracts also traded fully higher into Monday's closing bell, as the market has been well supported thus far by trader interest. It's also helpful that pork cutout values were up $1.88 this morning, which is mainly being driven by the belly's $6.08 increase.