Markets Active Monday

Corn managed to post gains of about a penny Monday even with good weather for planting. Brazil's dry weather for their second crop corn has really gotten the traders' attention. The dollar index was lower and that was supportive along with good export loadings. Last week 1.089 MT of corn was loaded on a ship and left the country. It has really helped corn prices that the funds started to cover some of their short positions. I read Friday they bought back 35,000 contracts.

Beans saw an active trade Monday with a 10 cent range. It was a disappointing close as beans closed low range with losses of about 2 cents. OPEC could not reach an agreement to cut production Sunday and that put crude oil under pressure, keeping a lid on all the grains. Traders are watching the weather in Argentina as wet weather is delaying bean harvest and causing losses. It sure sounds like Brazil's president is going to be impeached. Apparently the market assumes that would be good for their economy because their currency, the real has been increasing in value compared to the U.S. dollar. That makes beans for export from the U.S. cheaper.