Market Report: Nothing New Friday, Corn and Beans Lower

It was a typical day Friday, with corn closing lower again. Corn closed lower in all contracts by 3-5 cents. I read on Brugler Marketing and Management that ethanol prices in Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska are 78-80 cents a gallon lower than last year. They indicated that this was bad for ethanol profitability and therefore decreased demand for corn. I also read that gasoline sales are running above last year's levels. Nationwide, it works out that virtually all gasoline is blended with 10 percent ethanol to get the octane at acceptable levels. So, wouldn't that mean increased demand for ethanol and corn?

Beans did close about unchanged in old crop, but down 4-5 cents in the new crop November. It didn't help beans or corn that the Dollar Index was higher Friday. The Commitment of Traders Report showed that the funds decreased their net short position by 11,841 contracts. The NOPA Crush Report is due out Monday. Even though traders keep talking about poor demand, the average trade guess is 3 million bushels, about last month's record crush. How can you be talking about poor demand and then expect a record monthly crush?