09/18/07 Big gains for wheat futures; cattle lower

Market Line September 18, 2007 Wheat futures saw near limit to limit up closes Monday. One piece of positive news was that Pakistan may import one-million metric tons of wheat. French officials revised their wheat crop downward by over a million metric tons. And Peter Georgantones of Investment Trading Services in Bloomington, Minnesota says it is still dry in Australia where wheat is the heading stage. Georgantones: "Australia got some rain but not a great deal of rain. Not enough for a drought breaker by any stretch of the imagination." Traders should have the latest Australian government estimate for the wheat crop down under this morning. USDA has the crop pegged at 21 million tons. Some private traders look for a crop as small as 15 million tons. On Monday Chicago December wheat was up 29 cents at 8-75. Dec corn up 3 ¼ at 3-52 ¼. Portland cash soft white wheat was 14-23 cents higher at mostly 8-78. Club wheat 8-78. No red wheat bids quoted by USDA Market News at Portland. Barley at the coast 257 dollars a dollars a ton. Cattle futures were lower Monday with feeder contracts down sharply. Cash fed cattle prices down three dollars last week along with sluggish beef demand pressured contracts. Traders are however expecting a bullish Cattle on Feed Report this Friday. Oct live cattle down 27 cents at 94-97. Oct feeders down 135 at 115-50. Oct Class III milk down 20 cents at 18-55. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Market Line on the Northwest Ag Information Network. Now this.