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Funds Dump Corn as Hog Shorts Hit Another Record | The Opening Look · Professional Ag Marketing Podcast

• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Trading commodity futures and options involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Oh world, and good morning.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: This is the opening look for Monday, November 9th, 2026.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Nathan.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: A new trading week begins with modest strength in the grain markets following a Friday session, marked by selling across livestock features.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Cash and hogs and low wholesale pork offered a firmer kind of point, while the latest commitment of traders report revealed a dramatic change in speculative positioning, particularly in corn and lean hogs.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Overseas, China's agricultural purchasing commitments remain in focus.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: First, the overnight price action.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: We begin with corn.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: December corn is trading one and a half cents higher this morning at 442.3 quarter cents per bushel.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: March corn is three quarters cent higher at 4.56, while May is also three quarters cent higher at$4.50.5.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Soybeans have found firmer footing as well.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: January soybeans are up a cent and a quarter at$11.95.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: March is one cent higher at twelve.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: From the overnight grains, we turn to Friday's livestock trade.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: December lean hogs fell$1.57 to settle at$53.52, while February dropped$1.47 to$58.70.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: April lost$0.62 to finish at$66.50.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: December live cattle declined$35 to$214.05, while February fell$42 to$217.20.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Peter cattle sustained larger losses.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: January dropped$1.95 to$318.37.5, while March fell$2.07 to$313.85.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Thus, Monday begins with some strength in grains set against Friday's weaker livestock trade.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: The cash and wholesale reports tell a different story.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: The national negotiated cash hog market averaged$46.21, an increase of$442 from the previous day, with$858 head reported.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Wholesale pork strengthened as well.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: The estimated pork cutout gained$1.66 to$7065 across$292 loads.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Picnics rose$642, butts gained$439, and Hams advanced$367, while ribs fell$518.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Box beef presented a divided picture across 116 loads.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: Choice declined 77 cents to$360.79, while select increased$1.24 to$353.56.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: That placed the choice to select spread at$7.23.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: So while livestock features finished Friday under pressure, cash hogs and wholesale pork moved higher.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Beef was less uniform with choice lower and select higher.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Friday's commitment of Traders Report, reflecting positions as of november third, revealed a substantial change in speculative positioning.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Corn provides perhaps the most striking example.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Managed money sold another seventy eight thousand eight hundred and forty three contracts, taking the fund position to a net short of twenty two thousand nine hundred.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: That represents remarkably rapid retreat in speculative ownership.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Managed money had been at a record long position at the beginning of September and has since moved all the way through that bullish exposure into net short territory.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Soybeans followed the same direction.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Managed money sold 52,601 contracts, although funds remain net long 132,799.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: The livestock report carried an equally noteworthy development in lean hogs.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Managed money sold another 3,383 contracts, pushing the net short position to 50,492 contracts.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: That marks another new record short position in Lean Hogs, surpassing what had already been a record bearish fund position.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: In cattle, managed money sold 4,325 live cattle contracts, reducing the net long to 51,692.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Feeder cattle saw 2,051 contracts sold, leaving funds net long 11,000 contracts.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Beyond the speculative trade, China has formalized an extension of its trade truce with the United States.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Beijing will suspend retaliatory tariffs for another two months beginning Tuesday.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Beginning Tuesday, China will continue withholding an additional 24% tariff on U.S.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: imports while keeping a 10% blanket tariff in place.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: China will also postpone special fees on U.S.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: ships docking at Chinese ports until January 10th.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Last week, U.S.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Trade Representative Jameson Greer called for a concrete Chinese action on its commitments, specifically citing agricultural purchases and rare earths.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: President Chump and President Xi are scheduled to meet later this month at the APEC summit in Shenzhen.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so the week begins with a market carrying several different messages at once.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Grains are modestly higher, livestock features enter Monday from weaker settlements, cash hogs and pork values improved, and speculative money is rapidly repositioning across major agricultural markets.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: For producers, those cross currents reinforce the value of disciplined preparation.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Professional ag marketing helps farmers and livestock producers interpret markets, manage price risk, identify opportunity, and build marketing plans before changing conditions force the decision.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Markets cannot be controlled, preparation can.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: That is the opening look for Monday, November 9th, 2026.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Nathan