By: NATHAN STUEDLE
GRAINS:
December corn closed down 2 1/4 cents at $4.21 3/4 and March corn closed down 2 1/2 cents per bushel at $4.38 3/4 and November soybeans closed down 14 1/2 cents at $10.11 and January soybeans were down 14 1/4 cents at $10.30 1/2. December KC wheat closed down 5 cents at $5.02 1/4, December Chicago wheat was down 11 3/4 cents at $5.10 3/4 and December Minneapolis wheat was down 0.04 cents at $5.6375.
Corn, soybeans and wheat fell hard in unison Monday with soybeans and wheat leading the way down. November soybeans crashed through the 50-day moving average and plunged Monday, making it four consecutive days of losses. The fact that no China grain deal has yet to be inked, the advancing harvest of corn and beans, and rising world wheat supplies combined to weigh down ag markets at the start of the new week.
LIVESTOCK:
The live cattle complex was on fire this morning as the traders were celebrating Friday's bullish Cattle on Feed report and are optimistic about the news that is supposed to be released soon from the USDA on a plan to "help rebuild the American cattle supply, incentivize our great ranchers, and drive a full-scale revitalization of the American beef industry." The spot December contract is nearing its resistance pressure, which could cause traders some anxiety technically if they don't know what exactly is going to develop fundamentally this week or what the big announcement from the USDA is going to be. New showlists are higher in Nebraska/Colorado, steady in Texas, but lower in Kansas.
The feeder cattle complex traded limit higher in its furthest deferred months as traders clearly noted the lack of placements on Friday's Cattle on Feed report, and are extremely optimistic to see what the USDA is soon going to unveil. But in the meantime, the market is rocking and rolling as yet another bullish leg seems to have been added to the cattle market.
The lean hog complex traded mostly higher into Monday's closing bell as the market is pleased to again see that pork cutout values were higher this morning. The biggest help this morning in terms of pushing the carcass price higher was the belly's $5.18 jump, along with the $4.50 increase in the picnic.