While I realize I am dating myself, but back in 1976, the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy released what without question became their biggest hit. The Boys are Back in Town. As with many pop tunes, the lyrics are not complicated, beginning with, Guess who just got back today? Them wild-eyed boys that’s been away… and after every verse then the chorus, The boys are back in town, The boys are back in town, and so on. I apologize if you now have that tune stuck in your head for the rest of the day, but I could not help but think of it when I flipped on my quote screen this morning and saw that beans have pushed into higher highs once again. The bulls are back in town, the bulls are back in town. While it would be premature to say if there are here for an extended visit or if they plan to be in and out of town quickly, but it would seem that the weather outlook in South American will be the final determining factor. That is not to say that current demand has not been helpful as well.
For the second week in a row, corn was the standout in the weekly export sales report. For the week ending October 29th, sales grew 16% above the previous week’s excellent number to 2,619,900 MT or 102.8 million bushels. Mexico topped off the list with purchases of 1.062 MMT, followed by unknown destinations at 781.6k MT, and then China taking 212.3k MT. If you recall, Mexico also booked ahead last week and purchased 541k MT for the 2021/22 crop year. Wheat sales were down 20% from the prior week but were still solid at 597,100 MT or 21.9 million bushels. Unknown destinations filled the top position with 138.5k MT, followed by Taiwan at 88.6k, and then South Korea taking 86.3k. Soybean sales were by no means poor but did slide 6% to 1,530,500 MT or 56.2 million bushels. China remains at the top of the leader board with purchases of 810.7k MT (53% of the total), followed by Egypt with 283.8k and then Mexico at 92.7k. China was also a purchaser of 340.5k MT of sorghum, 47,300 RB of cotton, 285,700 whole cattle hides, 3,600 MT of beef, and 10,300 MT of pork.
There was nothing news for corn, wheat, or beans in the daily system this morning, but there were still a couple of decent sales announced. 33,000 MT of soybean oil were sold to India, and 106,000 MT of sorghum is going to China.
The weekly Initial Jobless Claims edged a bit lower this week, -7,000, coming in at 751,000. The good news is that it is the third week in a row of declining numbers and has reached the lowest level since mid-March. The bad news is that it is still over three-times greater than the pre-pandemic averages. The October employment data should be released tomorrow, and who knows, we might even know who will be President come January.
In the macros this morning, we find energies soft, metals strong, financial instruments flat, equities strong, and the dollar under pressure. One light of all the action today, one might begin to ask, “how do you spell inflation?”
