Why Beans Are Good For You
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan delivered
a speech to the Bay Area Council Conference in San Francisco, Calif. today. The
Federal Reserve chairman commented that the economic recovery that’s just
beginning may not have enough strength to endure. Some investors and economists
are trying to read into this. Their feeling is that the Fed remains open to
cutting interest rates for the 12th time in 13 months. Treasury prices moved
higher on Friday after Mr. Greenspan’s comments and an earlier government report
that showed a drop in producer prices.
FINANCIALS
March 30-Year T-Bonds
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gained ’21 to 101’15. The March 10-Year T-Note
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195 to close at 105.205, and the March 5-Year T-Note
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to 106’275.
BROADER MARKET INDEX FUTURES
March S&P 500 futures
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at 1147.80, down 11.30. The March Dow Jones futures
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85 to 9988, while the March Nasdaq index
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1646.50.
CURRENCIES
March US dollar index
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closed at 117.02, down 0.31. The March British pound [BPH2|BPH2]
closed higher to 1.4416, up .0058. The March Japanese yen
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higher to .007602, up .000043. The March Swiss franc
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.00180 to move to .60380. The March Australian dollar
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up .00180 to .51890, and the March euro
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.88970.
PRECIOUS METALS
Precious metals were trading mixed. February gold
on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading 80 cents
lower at $286.60 having bounced back from an earlier low of $285.70 a troy ounce.
March silver was struggling to hold at $4.68 an ounce, 2 cents lower than
Thursday. April platinum rose to $481 an ounce. March palladium gave up $4 to
trade at $432 an Feb Gold
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0.3 to close at 287.7. March Silver
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4.698. March High Grade Copper
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.0030, and April Platinum
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GRAINS
Grain and soybean futures moved higher Friday in
early dealings on the Chicago Board of Trade following the release of bullish
crop reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Soybean and corn prices
made the biggest moves, each adding about 2% in value at the opening.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reduced its
estimate of the 2001-02 U.S. soybean crop to 2.89 billion bushels, down from
2.92 billion. It also projected higher U.S. exports of 1.01 billion and a larger
soybean demand than was originally anticipated. The end result is a lower supply
of soybeans. March Soybeans
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higher to close up 10.5 to 443. March Soybean Meal
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to end the session at 154.4. And March Soybean Oil
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unchanged at 15.98. March Wheat
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March Corn
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CH2 |
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closed at 195.75 unchanged.
SOFTS
March Cotton #2 [CTH2|CTH2]
lost .36 to end lower at 37.04. March Orange Juice [JOH2|JOH2] dropped
.20 to 90.30. March Coffee
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Cocoa
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.16 to 7.76, and Jan Lumber
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MEATS
The meats were mixed in today’s
trading session. Feb Live Cattle
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69.875. Feb Live Hogs
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Bellies
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was lower at 84.225, down 1.35.
ENERGIES
Petroleum futures fell for the fifth day in a row
Friday. This happened because investors are uncertain whether Russia could meet
the output cuts it promised to OPEC. Under pressure from OPEC, Russia agreed to
cut its exports by 150,000 barrels a day beginning on Jan. 1. This is being done
to help increase falling oil prices. At midday, crude oil for February delivery
was down 26 cents to $20.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Feb
Crude Oil
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down by .0165 to .5731, and Feb Heating Oil
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to close at .5394. The only bright spot in the energy complex was Feb Natural
Gas
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PowerRating). The Feb contract closed at 2.215, up .030.