There is nothing in the grain commodity markets to indicate a return to what we now know are high prices.

A few weeks ago I said the bottom would be put in this sick market when the trade realized that the crop production estimate for corn and beans was too high. I am marking my diary that I finally got something right. Mark your calendars that the low is in.
On the night of Oct. […]

The soybean harvest is dragging along and corn harvest is having trouble getting fired up. Meanwhile, there is no enthusiasm for the crop in the Chicago Board of Trade building on LaSalle Street in Chicago.
USDA last week pronounced larger crops than expected in corn and beans. I remain dubious, as I watch the Bellevue […]

When a grain trader talks about harvest pressure, he is referring to the effect on the futures markets on the Chicago Board of Trade brought about by farmers taking grain to town and elevators selling futures to hedge it. The effect is normally to force down the price of futures since there is more need […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 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 […]

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.

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.