10/12/07 Big gains for wheat futures ahead of USDA numbers

Market Line October 12, 2007 After being on the defensive early in the week, wheat futures closed limit to nearly limit up Thursday. There was fund buying, export news and positioning ahead of this morning's USDA supply and demand report. Also helpful was a lower U.S. dollar and surging energy prices. Private exporters reported the sale of another 100-thousand metric tons of hard red winter wheat to Iraq. Morocco is tendering for 500-thousand tons of soft wheat. Mike Kruger of the Money Farm in Fargo, North Dakota, says demand for wheat has been pretty inelastic. Kruger: "People continue to say that gee we got to $9 wheat and we have cut off demand. There sure has not been any evidence of that happening yet." Traders are expecting a downward revision in domestic and global wheat ending stocks in today's USDA report. On Thursday Chicago December wheat was up 30 cents at 8-83. New crop Chicago July wheat up 20 ¼ at 6-86. Dec corn down 3 ½ at 3-43 ¾. Portland cash soft white wheat and club wheat 27-35 cents higher at mostly $10. HRW 11.5 percent protein 37-42 higher at 9-81. Dark northern spring wheat 14% protein 35-38 cents higher at 10-06. Barley at the coast 275 dollars a ton. Cattle futures had good gains Thursday despite some cash fed cattle trading 2-4 dollars lower than last week. Boxed beef was also down but traders responded to technical buy signals. Dec live cattle up 115 at 97-77. Nov feeders up 140 at 114-47. Nov Class III milk up a nickel at 17-45. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Market Line on the Northwest Ag Information Network. Now this.