Stories by Marlin Clark

Marlin Clark trades producer and elevator grain for Keystone Commodities in their Andover, Ohio, office. He invites readers’ comments at 866-293-4433.

Notice

In the process of transferring the Farm and Dairy archives to our new Web site, some articles were not completely uploaded. If you find an article that is incomplete, please contact us with the title and date of that article and we will fix it. Thank you for your patience.

The grain market hemorrhage continues

Thursday, October 9, 2008 by Marlin Clark

The market used to be bleeding lower. The bleeding became a massive hemorrhage yesterday, Oct. 6, on the Chicago Board of Trade as the commodities were all down sharply, with corn and beans down the limit.
With corn down 30 cents to 4.24 December futures yesterday, and with the soybeans down 70 at 9.22, we […]

Let’s blame it on the bossa nova

Thursday, October 2, 2008 by Marlin Clark

Last week in this space we looked at the “outside markets” as an effect on our grain markets. Recently, they have been a dominating reason for volatile prices. Trading on Sept. 29 put an exclamation point on the effect non-agricultural, non-supply and demand factors can have on markets.

On Sept. 29, Congress did not pass […]

Outside markets dominate grain prices

Thursday, September 25, 2008 by Marlin Clark

Based on the fundamentals and the technicals both, we should have been lower Sept. 22. What happened? Outside markets happened, with a vengeance.

The corn market downtrend continues

Thursday, September 11, 2008 by Marlin Clark

The corn downtrend has continued for 11 days. There is a little satisfaction in that, since in my last column I said that would be the expected trend. I would rather have been wrong, since I need some corn.
Last week, we looked at the long-term seasonal trends and determined that normally we would […]

Grain commodity markets bounce, but party’s over

Thursday, August 28, 2008 by Marlin Clark

Here are grain merchandiser Marlin Clark’s conclusions from the current market. First, hindsight is 20/20. Second, timing is more important than actual prices; and, third, the party is over for this year.

Adjectives wear out grain market watchers

Thursday, August 21, 2008 by Marlin Clark

One casualty of our record grain markets this year on the Chicago Board of Trade this year is the adjective. We have worn out the old ones, and they no longer have the power to shock us.

The correction becomes a crash

Thursday, August 7, 2008 by Marlin Clark

The mood has changed in the markets and we still have not seen the end of the price declines that have characterized trading for a month.

A month ago, it was all about the flooding — the cap on a wild market that had given us all-time high prices when everything that could be bullish […]

It was a bad month on LaSalle Street

Thursday, July 31, 2008 by Marlin Clark

Any way you look at it, July has been a tough month in Chicago. The LaSalle Street losers have seen corn down $2.63, soybeans down $2.79 1/2 and wheat down nearly $2. All of these commodities bounced back, but the results have been grim for those on the long side of this market.

Grains have […]

Watching the corn crash in Chicago

Thursday, July 17, 2008 by Marlin Clark

What a difference a few days make! I have said that before and I probably will again.

A few days in the corn markets on the Chicago Board of Trade have made over $1.15 difference, and it is down. That would be all the market range for a year or two normally, but we did […]

The grain market blows its top

Thursday, June 26, 2008 by Marlin Clark

December corn prices made new all-time highs for eight days in a row.