Market Report: Corn and Beans Sharply Higher

What a day as corn futures closed with double-digit gains of 10-11 cents. I read that the funds bought around 18,000 contracts or 90 million bushels. Now that is a lot of short covering! Until just recently traders viewed the rain as beneficial. Now they shifted to maybe some acres were washed out along with a lot of nitrogen. The basis widened, indicating some farmer selling on the rally. Export sales were OK and within expectations. As good as this small rally feels, remember we could be taken out at the knees next Tuesday with the USDA acres and stocks report.

Soybeans had a good close, too, at the high end of the trading range, posting gains of 18-22 cents. There was likely some short covering in beans, too, on concerns about all the rain. I read today that Illinois has now received more rain then in 1993. Those of us with a little (or a lot) of gray hair or no hair remember the absolute disaster 1993 was. The best description I remember was 40, 40, 40 as a description for corn. That meant 40-pound test weight, 40 percent moisture and 40 bushels an acre! With beans not liking "wet feet" and more than 8 million acres not planted, it seems traders are a bit concerned about the weather.