We started off the day with Export Sales, Initial Jobless Claims, Jobless Claims 4-Week Average(10/Jul), NY Empire State Manufacturing Index (Jul), Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index and Continuing Jobless Claims (03/Jul) at 7:30 A.M., Industrial Production   YoY & MoM(Jun) Manufacturing Production YoY & MoM (Jun) and Capacity Utilization (Jun) at 8:15 A.M., Fed Chair Powell Testimony at 8:30 A.M., EIA Natural Gas Storage at 9:30 A.M., and 4-Week & 8-Week Bill Auction at 10:30 A.M.

image source

On the Corn front, the futures traded higher on the weather pattern expected in the coming days, weeks, and possibly months. While rains in Nebraska, Iowa, and moving through Illinois, these rains may still not be enough with the given forecast. More bullish news of a lower Brazil crop and Argentina’s export logistics could be another reason for strength. Remember weather and yields are the story now. We are hoping for exports to pick up. The funds added 14,000 corn contracts making a net position estimate of 226,000 contracts. Makes you wonder how long were they going into the 4^th of July weekend. They are watching weather as well and will either add longs or reverse course.

On the Ethanol front, lawmakers have introduced a bill allowing higher ethanol blends in gasoline after the courts ruling. The bipartisan group of lawmakers intend to have E15 sold year-round. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) was quoted as, “For the past three years, we’ve seen that making E15 gasoline accessible year-round is good for drivers, farmers, and the environment.

On the Crude Oil front, the Saudi Arabia and UAE spat continues. A Saudi release that they have reached a deal and have an agreement and the UAE responded quickly. No We Don’t He said-she said, the market will be trading of this latest chapter. I just hope they remember getting greedy in 2020 was a disaster going in the negative. One may ask who is doing the navigating these negotiations? Hopefully not General George Armstrong Custard’s trusty scout. We will have more waiting as the drama plays out.

On the Natural Gas front, we have the weekly EIA Gas Storage and the Reuters weekly poll with 17 analysts participating estimate builds ranging from 38-bcf to 56-bcf with the median 47-bcf. This compares to the one-year injection of 38-bcf and the five-year average of 36-bcf.