Ken's Afternoon Report
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Started by jimwyckoff - May 2, 2018, 3:51 p.m.

LIVESTOCK: June live cattle closed down $0.92 at 104.90 

today. Prices closed nearer the session low today. The 

cattle market bears have the overall near-term technical 

advantage. However, prices have been trending higher for 

four weeks, which hints that a market bottom is in place.

 

May feeder cattle closed up $0.80 at $138.70 today.Prices 

closed near the session high today. The cattle marketbears 

have the overall near-term technical advantage. 

 

June lean hogs closed down $0.45 at $73.45 today. Prices 

closed nearer the session low. The bears have the firm 

overall near-term technical advantage. 

 

GRAINS: July corn futures closed up 1/2 cent at $4.05 

1/2 today. Prices closed nearer the session high and hit 

another nine-month high today. The corn bulls have thefirm 

overall near-term technical advantage and have momentumon 

their side to suggest more gains in the near term. Prices

have seen a bullish upside “breakout” from the recent 

sideways and choppy trading range. 

 

July soybeans closed down 10 3/4 cents at $10.42 1/2 a 

bushel today. Prices closed nearer the session low today.

The bean bulls have the overall near-term technical 

advantage, but trading has been choppy recently. 

 

July soybean meal closed down $4.80 at $399.60 today. 

Prices closed near the session low and did hit a contract

high early on today. The meal bulls still have the solid 

overall near-term technical advantage. 

 

July bean oil closed up 28 points 30.61 cents today.Prices 

closed near mid-range and saw short covering. The bears 

still have the solid overall near-term technicaladvantage. 

 

July SRW wheat closed down 2 1/2 cents at $5.34 1/2today. 

Prices closed nearer the session high and hit anine-month 

high today. The bulls have the firm overall near-term 

technical advantage. 

 

July HRW wheat closed up 2 1/2 cents at $5.55 1/2 today. 

Prices closed nearer the session high and hit a two-week 

high today. The bulls have the solid overall near-term 

technical advantage. 

 

SOFTS: July sugar closed down 3 points at 11.66 cents 

today. Prices closed nearer the session high. The sugar 

bears have the solid overall near-term technicaladvantage. 

Prices are in a four-month-old downtrend on the daily bar

chart. 

 

July coffee closed down 60 points at 124.20 cents today. 

Prices closed nearer the session low and did hit another 

two-month high early on today. The coffee bears have the 

overall near-term technical advantage. However, the bulls

have some momentum to suggest a market bottom is inplace. 

 

July cocoa closed down $85 at $2,809 a ton today. Prices 

closed near the session low on profit taking afterclosing 

at a 1.5-year high close on Tuesday. The cocoa bullsstill 

have the solid overall near-term technical advantage. 

 

July cotton closed up 14 points at 84.62 cents today. 

Prices closed near mid-range today. The cotton bulls have

the solid overall near-term technical advantage. 

 

July orange juice closed up 230 points at $1.6030 today. 

Prices closed near the session high today and hit another

nearly five-month high. Bulls have the firm overall near-

term technical advantage, but the market is short-term 

overbought and due for a corrective pullback very soon. 

 

July lumber futures closed up $4.60 at $576.70 today. 

Prices closed near the session high and hit another 

contract and all-time record high again today. The bulls 

have the strong overall near-term technical advantage.The 

next downside technical breakout objective for the lumber

bears is pushing and closing prices below solid technical

support at $535.00. 

 

METALS: June gold futures closed down $1.60 at $1,305.20 

today. Prices closed nearer the session low and closed ata 

4.5-month low close today. The gold bulls and bears areon 

a level overall near-term technical playing field, butthe 

bears have momentum on their side. 

 

July silver futures closed up $0.248 at $16.38 today. 

Prices closed nearer the session high today on short 

covering after hitting a 4.5-month low on Tuesday. The 

silver bears still have the overall near-term technical 

advantage. 

 

July N.Y. copper closed up 300 points at 306.70 cents 

today. Prices closed near mid-range today. The copperbulls 

and bears are on a level overall near-term technical 

playing field. 

 

ENERGIES: June Nymex crude oil closed up $0.76 at $68.00 

today. Prices closed nearer the session high. The bulls 

have the solid overall near-term technical advantage. The

next near-term upside price breakout objective for the 

crude oil bulls is closing prices above resistance at 

$70.00. 

 

June heating oil closed up 201 points at $2.1198 today. 

Prices closed near the session high. The bulls have the 

solid overall near-term technical advantage. 

 

June (RBOB) unleaded gasoline closed down 78 points at 

$2.0798 today. Prices closed nearer the session high and 

saw more profit taking after hitting a contract high on 

Monday. The bulls still have the solid overall near-term 

technical advantage. 

 

June natural gas closed down 4.9 cents at $2.753 today. 

Prices closed nearer the session high today. Bulls and 

bears are on a level overall near-term technical playing 

field amid recent choppy trading. 

 

CURRENCIES: The June Euro currency 

closed down 18 points at 1.2015 today. Prices closednearer 

the session low today and hit another four-month lowtoday. 

The bears have the overall near-term technical advantage 

and have momentum on their side. Prices are in an 

accelerating five-week-old downtrend on the daily bar 

chart. 

 

The June Japanese yen closed steady at .91340 today.Prices 

closed nearer the session high and hit a three-month low 

today. Bears have the overall near-term technical 

advantage. Prices are in a five-week-old downtrend on the

daily bar chart. 

 

The June Swiss franc closed down 6 points at 1.0050today. 

Prices closed near mid-range and hit another 15-month low

today. The Swissy bears have the solid overall near-term 

technical advantage. A 10-week-old downtrend is in placeon 

the daily bar chart. 

 

 

The June Canadian dollar closed down 16 points at .7773 

today. Prices closed near mid-range today. The bears have

the overall near-term technical advantage. 

 

The June British pound closed down 15 points at 1.3631 

today. Prices closed near mid-range and hit another 3.5-

month low today. The bears have the overall near-term 

technical advantage. 

 

The June U.S. dollar index closed up 0.200 at 92.455today. 

Prices closed nearer the session high and hit another four-

month high today. The bulls have the firm overallnear-term 

technical advantage. However, the market is nowshort-term 

overbought and due for a downside correction soon. 

 

June U.S. T-Bonds closed down 8/32 at 143 2/32 today. 

Prices closed near mid-range. The bond market bears have 

the solid overall near-term technical advantage. 

 

June U.S. T Notes closed up 1.0 (32nds) at 119.15.0today. 

Prices closed near mid-range. The bears still have the 

solid overall near-term technical advantage. 

 

GENERAL STOCK MARKET COMMENT: U.S. stock indexes closed 

weaker today. Trading has turned choppy in the U.S. 

indexes. The key U.S. markets event Wednesday is the 

Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetingthat 

just ended with a statement. No change in U.S. interest 

rates was announced, as expected. On the inflation front,

FOMC members said they expect U.S. inflation to be around

2.0% on an annual basis, which is right where the Fedwants 

it. On Monday the U.S. Commerce Department issued areport 

saying overall U.S. price inflation, via personal 

consumption expenditures, has reached the Fed’s goal of 

2.0% annually. This latest statement implies two more 

interest rate increases this year, with the first onebeing 

in June. Another important U.S. data point today was the 

ADP national employment report for April, which showed a 

rise of 204,000. The number was forecast to be up 190,000

jobs. The gold market moved little after the release of 

this report. A U.S. high-level trade delegation travelsto 

China Thursday to try to avert a trade war between the 

world’s two largest economies. On Friday is the U.S. 

employment report from the Labor Department—arguably the 

most important U.S. data point of the month. The outside 

markets today saw the U.S. dollar index higher andhitting 

another 4.5-month high. Meantime, Nymex crude oil prices 

were slightly up and trading around $67.50 a barrel. 

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