No trading today

Market Line January 18, 2010 Futures exchanges are closed today in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. Wheat futures posted losses Friday closing below the levels seen after the bearish USDA reports early last week. Many traders cited a stronger U.S. dollar for the decline.

Brian Hoops with Midwest Market Solutions sums up the problem for U.S. wheat.

Hoops: “Wheat is not competitively priced on the world market and so we are grinding lower and have fallen into some key support areas.”

The U.S. did get some business from Morocco last week but so did the E.U. Egypt didn’t buy any U.S. grain and a 500-thousand metric ton tender by Saudi Arabia is not expected to provide any business for the U.S.

On Friday Chicago March wheat was down 17 ¾ cents at 5-10. March corn down 9 ½ cents at 3-71 ½. Portland soft white wheat five go 12 cents lower at mostly 4-67 on pressure from futures. New crop August soft white steady to 25 cents lower at 4-70 to 4-90. Club wheat premium $3.25. HRW 11.5 % protein down 15 cents at 5-52. DNS 14% protein down 16 cents at 6-57.

No Portland barley bids.

Cattle futures were mixed Friday. Cash and boxed beef prices were supportive last week but there was some profit taking. Also cheaper feed was viewed as negative for live cattle down the road. Feb live cattle up 70 cents at 87-35. March feeders up 70 at 98-65. February Class III milk up 33 cents at 14-25 on a jump in spot butter prices.

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

Now this.