Final Flurry Separates Wheat From Chaff
Sell stops were hit below 273 in March wheat
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WH1 |
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PowerRating)
after the contract slipped throughout the day then finally broke down. The late
downstroke came on rumors that higher grain exports from China could negatively
tip the global supply-and-demand balance. Wheat closed 6 1/4 lower at 270
1/2.Â
Corn
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CH1 |
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PowerRating) also tumbled below its Pullback From Lows
trigger (the prior day’s low), slicing 4 cents lower to 214 3/4. Corn is now at
a 20-day low and is susceptible to a (Turtle Soup Plus One Buy) reversal.Â
Looking the other way, soymeal
(
SMF1 |
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PowerRating) held above
185.5 support. The European mad cow scare and dearth of suitable protein
substitutes for animal feed still underpins this contract. Look for this one to
rally out of its Pullback From
Highs setup.Â
Stock index futures traded in a tight range, holding up
well in light of Tuesday’s record Nasdaq day and downgrade and earnings warnings
from Microsoft and Motorola, respectively. However, the indexes sank in the
final minutes of trading on news that trading in Intel was halted. As it turns
out, Intel issued a revenue warning and this could negatively effect tech
Friday.Â
Euro FX futures
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ECZ0 |
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PowerRating) pulled back after gapping to
a fresh three-month high this morning. Traders appeared hesitant to push the
contract to new highs ahead of tomorrow’s jobs report. The jobs report will give
a clearer indication of how much the US economy is slowing vis-a-vis Euroland.
If the US economy shows more signs of weakening, the euro FX could push to new
highs. Dollar index futures
(
DXH1 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) clawed back a quarter to 113.51.
Also notice that the euro FX held 6 ticks above the
.89380-.89590 cluster spelled out in Carolyn Boroden’s Futures
Perspectives.Â
In the currencies, the
Japanese yen
(
JYZ0 |
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News |
PowerRating), on the Implosion-5 List yesterday, is down .0031 after
a report showed that consumer spending slowed last month in that Asian nation.
The yen is trading just above its Pullback From Lows
trigger point (which equates with yesterday’s low).Â
Natural gas continues to be the most volatile commodity,
with much of the trading activity being conducted after hours on the Access
system. Nat gas gapped open in the New York session to 9.00, a contract and
all-time record, but proceeded to trade straight down into yesterday’s
consolidation area and hit limit-down levels (-.75), halting trading for one
hour. NGF1 drifted lower after the limit move but closed just below the limit
down level, resulting in a loss on the session of .112 to 8.373.