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.