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The lead story on financial television early Thursday morning was Denmark and its allies sending troops to Greenland, to stand up to a common enemy – the United States.
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Meanwhile, crude oil cooled a bit based on the latest social media post by the US president.
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Gold hit a new all-time high Wednesday while silver extended its rally to a new market overnight through early Thursday morning.
Morning Summary: Steve Sedgwick, host of CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe, started today’s segment by saying he had to read the “nuttiest headline”: Denmark and its allies send troops to Greenland. He was absolutely correct. The members of NATO still considered allies against a common enemy: the United States. This after a meeting between the US administration, Denmark, and Greenland reportedly didn’t go well Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Cash Gold Index (GCY00) hit a new high of $4,642.74 yesterday, up $56 (1.2%) before slipping back through the close and seeing follow-through pressure overnight. Similarly, the Cash Silver Index (SIY00) posted a new high of $93.52 overnight but has dipped back into the red by $3.47 (3.7%) at this writing. Energies were in the red across the board with only the spot-month natural gas contract showing green after falling 10% yesterday. Lastly, the US dollar index ($DXY) was slightly firmer to start the day. The common theme is what it has been for the last decade: Global markets and governments continue to have to adjust to the loss of the US as a stabilizing force. As we can see in the long-term trends of the greenback and gold, the US is viewed as an unstable factor.
Corn: The corn market was quietly higher early Thursday morning. The March issue posted a 1.75-cent trading range, all of it above unchanged, and was sitting 1.75 cents higher, one tick off its session high while registering 15,000 contracts changing hands. Recall March closed yesterday at $4.22, up 2.25 cents for the day indicating Watson had started the new positioning week in a buying mood. The previous week, Tuesday to Tuesday, March closed 24.25 cents lower, due to this past Monday’s post-report meltdown of 24.75 cents. The question is if the noncommercial net-long futures position, last reported at 60,110 contracts, was erased through Tuesday’s close. Fundamentally, the corn market has grown more – bullish. Wednesday’s settlement saw the March-May spread cover 37% calculated full commercial carry while the May-July covered 30%. This is likely a reflection of bin doors being slammed shut following this week’s activity that put the National Corn Index ($CNCI) at $3.83, its lowest price since October 21. The Index was priced Wednesday night at $3.86, up 2.75 cents for the day meaning national average basis firmed. The latest calculation was 36.0 cents under March futures, as compared to the previous 5-year low weekly close for this week of 32.25 cents under March.
