March 31, 2009

What a wild ride it was today in the market with both corn and soybeans finishing up sharply higher followed by the USDA report. Soybean futures rose more than 5 percent on Tuesday after a key government report showed farmers planned to plant less soy this year than the market had expected, traders said. Corn and wheat futures also rallied, with corn up 4.8 percent and wheat up 4 percent, as an influx of money into the market late in the trading session pushed both commodities higher after hovering around unchanged for much of the day. Commodity markets edged up on
Tuesday from losses in the previous session, aided by gains in the stock market and a softer dollar, and are heading for their strongest quarterly performance since June last year.

USDA Highlights:

CORN ACREAGE: 84.986 MILLION ACRES
SOYBEAN ACREAGE: 76.024 MILLION ACRES


As the saying goes March goes out like a lion and April comes in like a lamb. Outside markets will most likely continue to play a big influence over the balance of the week as the equity markets prepare for Friday's unemployment report.

~Chris Spurlock