LIVESTOCK: June live cattle closed up $1.17 at 103.00
today. Prices closed nearer the session high afterhitting
a five-week low early on today. Short covering was
featured. The cattle market bears still have the firm
overall near-term technical advantage.
August feeder cattle closed up $1.85 at $138.57 today.
Prices closed nearer the session high after hittinganother
five-week low early on today. Short covering wasfeatured.
The cattle market bears have the solid overall near-term
technical advantage.
June lean hogs closed up $0.60 at $76.50 today. Prices
closed nearer the session high today. The hog bears still
have the overall near-term technical advantage.
GRAINS: July corn futures closed down 4 cents at $3.95
1/4 today. Prices closed near the session low today and
closed at a three-week low close. The corn bulls stillhave
the overall near-term technical advantage, but fadedtoday
and need to show fresh power soon to keep their edge. A
technically bearish weekly low close on Friday would be a
clue that a near-term market top is in place.
July soybeans closed down 7 1/4 cents at $9.92 1/2 abushel
today. Prices closed near the session low and closed at
another three-month low close today. Bears have theoverall
near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a four-week-
old downtrend on the daily bar chart.
July soybean meal closed down $2.10 at $374.50 today.
Prices closed near the session low and closed at asix-week
low close today. The meal bulls still have the slight
overall near-term technical advantage, but are fading.
July bean oil closed up 35 points 30.94 cents today.Prices
closed near mid-range today on short covering. The bears
have the firm overall near-term technical advantage.
July SRW wheat closed up 3 1/4 cents at $4.97 1/2 today.
Prices closed nearer the session low today. The bulls and
bears are on a level overall near-term technical playing
field.
July HRW wheat closed up 4 3/4 cents at $5.18 3/4 today.
Prices closed nearer the session low today. The bulls and
bears are on a level overall near-term technical playing
field.
SOFTS: July sugar closed down 3 points at 11.58 cents
today. Prices closed nearer the session low. The sugar
bears have the firm overall near-term technicaladvantage.
Prices are in a four-month-old downtrend on the daily bar
chart.
July coffee closed up 55 points at 117.85 cents today.
Prices closed nearer the session low on tepid short
covering in a bear market. The coffee bears have thesolid
overall near-term technical advantage.
July cocoa closed down $93 at $2,637 a ton today. Prices
closed nearer the session low and hit a four-week low
today. Prices this week have seen a bearish downside
“breakout” from the recent trading range at higher price
levels. The cocoa bulls still have the overall near-term
technical advantage. However, this week’s downsidebreakout
suggests a market top is in place.
July cotton closed up 77 points at 85.12 cents today.
Prices closed nearer the session high today. The cotton
bulls have the firm overall near-term technicaladvantage.
July orange juice closed down 55 points at $1.7025 today.
Prices closed nearer the session low on profit takingafter
hitting a 16-month high on Wednesday. Bulls have thesolid
overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a
steep, six-week-old uptrend on the daily bar chart.
July lumber futures again closed up the $10.00 limit at
$639.00 today. Prices hit another contract and recordhigh
today and closed near mid-range. The bulls have thestrong
overall near-term technical advantage. There are still no
early chart clues that a near-term market top is close at
hand.
METALS: June gold futures closed down $1.20 at $1,290.30
today. Prices closed near mid-range and hit another five-
month low today. Prices are in a two-month-old downtrend on
the daily bar chart. The gold bears have the overallnear-
term technical advantage.
July silver futures closed up $0.129 at $16.50 today.
Prices closed near the session high today on short
covering. The silver bears have the overall near-term
technical advantage.
July N.Y. copper closed up 190 points at 308.95 cents
today. Prices closed near mid-range today. The copperbulls
and bears are on a level overall near-term technical
playing field amid recent choppy trading.
ENERGIES: June Nymex crude oil closed down $0.08 at
$71.41 today. Prices closed nearer the session low after
hitting another 3.5-year high early on today. The bulls
have the solid overall near-term technical advantage.There
are still no early technical clues that a market top is
close at hand.
June heating oil closed up 158 points at $2.2850 today.
Prices closed near mid-range today and hit anothercontract
high. The bulls have the solid overall near-termtechnical
advantage.
June (RBOB) unleaded gasoline closed up 44 points at
$2.2543 today. Prices closed nearer the session low anddid
hit another contract high today. The bulls have the solid
overall near-term technical advantage.
June natural gas closed up 3.6 cents at $2.851 today.
Prices closed nearer the session high and closed at atwo-
month high close today. Bulls have the overall near-term
technical advantage.
CURRENCIES: The June Euro currency
closed down 1 point at 1.1826 today. Prices closed near
mid-range today. The bears have the firm overallnear-term
technical advantage. Prices are in a six-week-olddowntrend
on the daily bar chart.
The June Japanese yen closed down 390 points at .90485
today. Prices closed nearer the session low and hit a4.5-
month low today. Bears have the firm overall near-term
technical advantage. Prices are in a six-week-olddowntrend
on the daily bar chart.
The June Swiss franc closed down 5 points at 1.0009today.
Prices closed near mid-range today. The Swissy bears have
the solid overall near-term technical advantage. A 2.5-
month-old downtrend is in place on the daily bar chart.
The June Canadian dollar closed down 9 points at .7815
today. Prices closed nearer the session low today. The
bears have the overall near-term technical advantage.
The June British pound closed up 24 points at 1.3528today.
Prices closed near mid-range today. The bears have the
overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a
four-week-old downtrend on the daily bar chart.
The June U.S. dollar index closed up 0.099 at 93.380today.
Prices closed nearer the session high and closed at afive-
month high close today. The bulls have the firm overall
near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a steepfour-
week-old uptrend on the daily bar chart.
June U.S. T-Bonds closed down 16/32 at 140 14/32 today.
Prices closed near the session low and hit anothercontract
low today. The bond market bears have the solid overall
near-term technical advantage.
June U.S. T Notes closed down 2.0 (32nds) at 118.15.5
today. Prices closed near mid-range and hit a contractlow
today. The bears have the solid overall near-termtechnical
advantage.
GENERAL STOCK MARKET COMMENT: U.S. stock indexes closed
weaker today, on profit taking. Trading has turned choppy
this week, but the bulls still have the overall near-term
technical advantage. World stock markets were mixed
overnight. There are at least a couple of storm clouds
building off in the horizon, regarding the geopolitical
front. European markets are a bit concerned about Italyand
notions that country may threaten to pull out of the Euro
zone bloc if the EU does not write off some of its heavy
financial debt owed to the bloc. This situation will only
add to the recent selling pressure against the Euro
currency, and in turn be a bullish element for thesurging
U.S. dollar. However, a destabilized European Union would
favor gold due to keener risk aversion. Also, theapparent
unraveling of the brief courtship between the U.S. and
North Korea regarding North Korea’s pledge to “de-
nuclearize” could produce trader and investor anxiety in
the coming weeks. The U.S. trade meetings with China in
Washington, D.C., begin in earnest today. Also, an
agreement on an updated NAFTA trade deal between theU.S.,
Canada and Mexico is unlikely to be announced late this
week, as the Trump administration had hoped would be the
case. The key “outside markets” today saw Nymex crude oil
prices higher and hitting a 3.5-year high above $72.00 a
barrel. Brent crude oil futures prices pushed above$80.00
a barrel today. Meantime, the U.S. dollar index wasfirmer
and hovering near this week’s five-month high.
Thanks Jim and Ken!