By: NATHAN STUEDLE
GRAINS:
December corn closed down 6 3/4 cents and March corn was down 6 1/4 cents. November soybeans closed down 3 1/2 cents and January soybeans were down 3 1/2 cents. December KC wheat closed down 3/4 cents, December Chicago wheat was up 1 1/2 cents, December Minneapolis wheat was down 0 cents.
U.S. crop prices fell to begin the new week, led by corn which was met with fresh selling following an impressive double-digit surge Friday, which put December futures at a two and a half month high. Soybean and wheat futures were lower as well but in much quieter fashion as traders look past Friday's WASDE report and ahead to U.S. harvest reports which will begin to flow in over the next several weeks. Outside markets for Monday were mostly a positive influence on agricultural markets with a softer U.S. dollar, and firmer energy markets. Monday news was headlined by reports that the U.S. and China had reached a tentative agreement over the weekend regarding TikTok, with President Trump announcing he and President Xi of China are planning to speak on Friday, which the soybean market in particular will surely be watching closely.
LIVESTOCK:
It was a breath of fresh air to see the live cattle complex trade higher Monday, as last Friday the market closed just slightly below the 40-day moving average in the spot October contract, which caused some anguish heading into the weekend. Whenever the market closes below a major threshold like that, there's a strong chance traders could deem that a technical reason as to why the contracts should continue to trade lower. But, thankfully, that hasn't been the case as the live cattle contracts are traded mostly $4.00 higher into Monday's closing bell. New showlists appear to be mixed, higher in Kansas, but lower in Texas and Nebraska/Colorado. Last week Northern dressed cattle traded at mostly $375 to $378, which is $5.00 to $8.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average, and Southern live cattle traded at mostly $238 to $240, which is $2.00 to $4.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average.
The feeder cattle complex also rallied aggressively through Monday's session as the contracts saw an overabundance of support from traders. The uptick in the board could help feeder cattle prices in the countryside too, even though the fall run is fully underway.
The lean hog complex seems to be appraising the marketplace early this week to see if there's going to be enough support to allow the contracts to trade higher. Pork cutout values are up slightly, but given their mixed nature last week, it will be important that traders see stable support this week.