Grain and live cattle markets end higher, with feeder cattle and lean hogs mixed.
DuWayne Bosse, Bolt Marketing, says most of the bounce in the grain markets was short covering or short profit taking.
The CFTC Commitment of Traders Report showed funds or managed money is now short nearly 85,000 contracts in the corn market, selling nearly 100,000 contracts in a week.
Funds also increased their short positions in all three classes of wheat and so the market was ripe for some technical buying.
Bosse says he was impressed wheat and corn held up as well as they did with the favorable weather and rains falling in dry areas of the Western Corn Belt and winter wheat areas.
The sharply lower dollar index was also supportive for the entire grain complex.
He points out July corn needs to close above the $4.50 psychological resistance area on the charts to keep the momentum going.
Meanwhile, soybean oil and soybeans closed higher after holding key support areas on the charts.
July and November soybeans are still above the 200-day moving averages.
Live cattle futures closed higher for a second day, but may need a third to help negate the bearish key weekly reversals still lingering from last week.
However, Bosse is not sure if futures can retest the record highs or not.
Cash cattle trade was higher last week and set a new record for the 5th straight week with most of the North trading at $228.
Futures are at a discount to that cash, which continues to be supportive.
Boxed beef values were higher again at noon with the Choice category above $350, indicating strong demand.
Lean hog futures ended mixed with nearby contracts under pressure as they got too far ahead of the cash index, plus ran into chart resistance.
