We started off the day with Fed Harker Speech at 7:00 A.M., Export Sales, Initial Jobless Claims (08/Jan), PPI MoM & YoY (Dec), Core PPI MoM & YoY (Dec), Jobless Claims 4-Week Average (08/Jan), and Continuing Jobless Claims (01/Jan) at 7:30 A.M., Fed Brainard Testimony at 9:00 A.M., NY Fed Treasury Purchases 2.25 to 4.4 yrs. and EIA Gas Storage at 9:30 A.M., 4-Week & 8-Week Bill Auction at 10:30 A.M., 30-Year Bond Auction and Fed Evans Speech at 12:00 P.M.

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On the Corn front, the USDA increased carryout in corn as well as soybeans and wheat. There was also no change in the corn yield. It has been a wild year with all of the wet weather after a dry start. Too much rain may have hurt yields for some producers , Iowa out yielded Illinois this year in corn. The USDA says Iowa’s average corn yield came in at 205 bu. Per acre, compared 202 bu. Per acre in Illinois. In the overnight electronic session the March corn is currently trading at 594 ¼ which is 4 ¾ cents lower. The trading range has been 599 ¾ to 594.

On the Ethanol front, Biden is weighing cuts to the 2022 ethanol blending mandate proposal. Backlash from oil Refining Lobby aim to change the proposed 15 billion gallons as the government is shrinking the Ethanol industry. There were no trades or open interest in ethanol futures.

On the Crude Oil front, the market was lower coming in this morning and is mounting a comeback. I would not play this market with a bearish mentality. This market is going to lift off to the all-time highs unless there is a major overhaul of the U.S. Energy Policy. Covid-19 or not Covid-19 I would not want to be short this market going into the weekend. In the overnight electronic session the February crude oil is currently trading at 8243 which is 21 points lower. The Trading range has been 8294 to 8204.

On the Natural Gas front, the spot market is getting spanked as it shot up huge yesterday. A brief reprieve in temperatures may be to blame. But enjoy these prices while you can as snow and cold are forecasted for many in the lower 48 states. We also have the EIA Gas Storage and the Thomson Reuters poll with 13 analysts participating estimate withdrawals ranging from 186 bcf to 147 bcf with the median 175 bcf and the actual 173 bcf. This compares to the one-year withdrawal of 179 bcf and the five-year average withdrawal 167 bcf. In the overnight electronic session the February natural gas is currently trading at 4.545 which is 0.312 lower. The trading range has been 4.844 to 4.523.