Joe Camp

Grains are called slightly higher at the start in response to nothing overly negative popping up yet over an otherwise quiet weekend. In the Headlines Corn futures were lower on Friday, but the May contract held a gain of 3 1/4 cents for the week. Soybeans were higher on Friday but still 9 cents lower for the week. Chicago wheat was up 5 3/4 and Kansas City wheat gained 21 1/4 for the week. April live cattle were up $2.90, April feeders up $3.05, and April hogs down 72 cents last week. This weekend's political talk was mostly centered on President Trump invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to authorize the immediate deportation of Venezuelan gang members. A federal judge halted the deportations on Saturday morning and ordered the return of any flights currently underway. The White House is appealing the judge's decision and there will be a court hearing on the matter this Friday. The U.S. military launched airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen this weekend. The terrorist group had stated last week that they planned to continue targeting ships moving through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. President Trump vowed to keep pressure on the…

Grains are called fractionally mixed in a quiet open that would require nothing substantial popping up in the news before markets start trading again. Grain traders are likely to look for guidance from whether stock futures and crude oil show signs of regaining stability. In the Headlines Tariffs dominated as the top focus of traders last week in a timeline that led to the latest headline about President Trump pulling back the new 25 percent import charges on goods covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, including the early carve outs for U.S. automakers and agricultural products. There were no apparent exemptions or changes for the fresh tariffs levied on China. The response from China last week included retaliatory tariffs against U.S. exports that ranged from 10 percent on sorghum, soybeans, meat, and diary to 15 percent on wheat, corn, and cotton. Newly developing over the weekend was that China place tariffs against Canadian agriculture, with new taxes of 100 percent on Canola and 25 percent on pork. House Republicans released a bill on Saturday that would extend funding to the government until September, with this Friday being the next shutdown deadline. Other weekend headlines include about the advancement of a Russian…

Tariff concerns again point to a softer open for the grains, but the situation is fluid and new developments could arise throughout Sunday afternoon. Look for bearishness to ease eventually as the stock market stabilizes along with crude oil and the dollar. In the Headlines Tariffs were again the major source of headlines last week, with markets expressing nervousness over news that President Trump would move forward with new import charges on Mexico, Canada, and China starting this Tuesday. There had been some relief earlier in the week on reports that the tariffs on Mexico and Canada would be delayed another month, but that now seems not the case. The only new development over the weekend was that the U.S. Commerce Secretary indicated that there was still a possibility of Trump receiving additional concessions and reducing tariff rates below the original threat of 25 percent. Grain futures had a volatile close to the week on Friday after starting mostly stronger and finishing sharply lower. There was a rebound attempt mid-session that was stifled by the bearishness linked to President Trump's visit with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Investors were spooked out of the stock market and more risk-off pressure spilled over into…

Tariff headlines and concern about the economy are expected to weigh on grains at the open. After a weak finish for many major markets last week, a recovery for grain futures may depend on whether stock prices can stabilize along with crude oil. In the Headlines The U.S. Trade Representative agency has proposed new port fees for ships built or flagged by China. Charges for Chinese vessels could range from $500,000 to $1.5 million per ship and would apply to what was recently estimated at about 17 percent of ships coming into U.S. ports that are Chinese-made. There were additional orders requiring an increase in the use of U.S.-built and U.S.-flagged ships, with American shipping companies growing to handle at least 15 percent of all exports over the next seven years. New tariffs and their risk of pushing inflation higher were part of what pulled stocks sharply lower on Friday. The latest reading on consumer sentiment also dropped 10 percent from last month, helping to lead the Dow Jones Industrial Average down for a loss of nearly 750 points. The risk-off move may have been exacerbated further by a massive amount of stock option contracts that expired at the end…

Most markets are closed for Presidents' Day before the grains will open up tonight at 7 pm for the Tuesday session. Some of the markets currently open for abbreviated sessions included metals, crude oil, stock index futures, Treasury futures, and the dollar index – all were trading very quietly as of this writing. Grains are called to edge slightly lower at the open after better than expected coverage of rain over Argentina. In the Headlines Friday's flash sale announcement for corn bought by Columbia made for the third daily corn sale of the week. Earlier in the week there was a soybean sale that was the first flash soybean sale in almost a month. The weekly export report was another strong one for corn, but it included the lowest total of the marketing year for soybeans. Export sales performance has been a top driver of the divergence between corn and soybean prices and was a likely contributor again to last week finishing with corn futures up and soybeans down. Budgetary talks were putting fresh focus on renewable fuels policy, as well as the farm bill. The 45Z clean fuel production credits were still at risk of being scrapped because of…