Big sell off in wheat futures

Market Line June 4, 2009 Wheat futures saw losses of up to 60-cents a bushel Wednesday as the funds, which had been buyers, turned to selling.

Louise Gartner with the Linn Group at the Chicago Board of Trade says outside markets were to blame, especially the dollar.

Gartner: “Over the past couple of weeks the dollar‘s weakness had contributed to much of the gain and we are seeing that reverse fairly aggressively with a sharply higher dollar throughout the session and that is spilling over weakness to the grains. The crude oil market coming under some pressure as well. The DOW lower, not under a great deal of pressure but still contributing to some of the weakness across the complex.”

Gartner says an economic recovery that is not going as well as had been thought my make the funds hesitant to make further moves into commodities.

On Wednesday Chicago July wheat was down 52 cents at 6-17 ½. July corn down 17 at 4-32 ½. Portland soft white wheat and club wheat were five to ten cents lower at mostly 6-15 with some club bids to 7-25. August new crop soft white lower at 6-15 to 6-25. HRW 11.5 % protein down 47 cents at 7-02. DNS 14% protein down 55-60 cents at 8-18. No Portland barley bids.

Cattle futures were mixed with nearby live contracts showing strength on futures discount to cash. Fund selling and a weak CME feeder cattle index pressured feeder contracts. August live cattle up 12 cents at 80-77. August feeders down 105 at 96-12. July Class III milk down 24 cents at 10-86 on a lower cheese market.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Market Line on the Northwest Ag Information Network.

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