Afternoon Corn: Red-to-green day for old crop corn futures
<div class=\"default-font-wrapper\" style=\"line-height: 1;font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;\"><div style=\"line-height: 1;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;\">Afternoon Corn: <br id=\"isPasted\"> <br>“Red to green” trade today in corn, as a softer start quickly gave way to firmer trade throughout the day. Old crop futures finished 3-5 cents higher, while later-dated new crop positions ended only fractionally better. Funds probably added to their length today, which means their net long in the market is over 100,000 contracts. Cash trade was steady/firm.<br> <br>The day held minimal fresh news feature for corn. Grains may have benefitted from a geopolitical bid after the U.S. was rumored to have approved the use of long-range weapons by Ukraine on Russian territory. Escalatory? The start to this week is going to be a wet one for the U.S., which will rain-out any remaining harvest for a moment. There should not be much left at this point; it is far enough along that the USDA did not issue a progress update tonight (U.S. corn was 95% harvested at the start of last week). That leaves South America as the main weather talking point, and it is currently not much of one with plantings accelerating toward completion and the forward outlook more favorable than not.<br> <br>There were no 8 AM flashes for corn today (the soy complex was another matter). The only export news of note was the weekly grain inspections report, which was near expected. For the week ended 11/14, U.S. exporters shipped 820,608 metric tons (mt) of corn, better than the prior week’s 797k, and the prior year’s 601k mt. Usual suspects Mexico, Japan, and Colombia, were the top destinations. YTD corn inspections move to 9.062 million mt, improving upon the prior year comparable of 6.872.<br> <br>Elsewhere, end-user markets were mostly a little better to start the week. The major mover of late has been an ethanol rally that has restored modest profitability (5-10 c/gal) to an industry that was losing money just two weeks ago. The big macro was a help not a hindrance today; energy was firm and the US Dollar down.<br> <br>In the options, December contracts expire Friday. Calendar spreads were firm, particularly between marketing years. Corn was even’ish on the beans (2-to-1) but lost to the wheat. Eyeing the charts, futures have found meaningful resistance at $4.35 CZ ($4.50 CH). Initial support in the $4.20 area basis CZ ($4.30 CH) also tentatively held. Momentum indicators are positive on the weekly and are trying to turn back higher on the daily. The RSI is near-neutral, sitting around 60. <br> <br>KJ </span></div></div>