SETTLEMENTS 9/23

Corn and wheat closed higher and soybeans closed lower.  Wheat and corn were strong for the majority of the day and soybeans were weak.  Late in the day, buying entered the soybean market and selling entered the corn and wheat markets.  Weather models continue to flip flop with frost ideas next week.  The latest run is indicating a frost at the end of next week with warmer weather at the beginning of next week.  So far temps do not look too threatening, with only the northernmost areas receiving temps in the low to mid 30's.  Unless the outlook changes, this scenario would not cause too much damage.  Concerns over the U.S. dollar and the fact that interest rates are being held at extremely low levels continues to draw money into commodities.  We continue to see a strong surge of "new money" enter our markets as we head into the end of the month.  This month should be the same.  For those of you who need to get caught up on sales ahead of harvest, I would use a rally in corn and soybeans to start catching up.  We have a Sep. stocks report at the end of the month, and the Chinese holidays start on the first. I would make sure you are completely caught up on sales by Oct.1.  It should be hard for corn and soybeans to maintain large rallies especially over the next 30 days.  If you have storage, even if prices have put in a bottom (I don't think they have), the market may have a very difficult time rallying from here. So, trying to make some sales on these 3-4 day rallies will keep you from feeling like you have to make sales on the large breaks.