11/23/05 Holiday shortened trading

Marketline November 23, 2005 Some futures exchanges will close early today and be closed tomorrow for Thanksgiving and many traders will probably be taking a long weekend. Despite a slight drop in the weekly winter wheat crop ratings wheat futures were lower Tuesday. Forecasts for rain and snow in the hard red winter wheat belt by early next week weighed on the market which is under severe technical pressure from the recent decline. Peter Georgantones of Investment Trading Services in Bloomington, Minnesota, says there was some unwinding of the long Minneapolis and short Chicago spread yesterday. Georgantones: "As for other news, export sales will come out Friday now with the holiday. Everybody is kind of a holiday lull. We are trying to put bottoms in on this marketplace and that's where we are right now." On Tuesday March Chicago wheat was down a half cent at 3-12 3/4. March corn unchanged at 2-05 1/4. Portland cash white wheat was steady at mostly 3-42. Club wheat 3-87. PNW HRW 11.5 percent protein lower at 4-42. Dark northern spring 14% protein lower at 5-13. Export barley 103 dollars a ton. The same weather forecasts that were negative for wheat Tuesday provided fundamental support for cattle futures yesterday. Contracts rebounded from Monday's sell off closing higher. Stronger boxed beef cutout values also added support. Feb live cattle up 75 cents at 93-50. Jan feeders up 50 at 113-17. Jan Class III milk up a nickel at 12-73. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Marketline on the Northwest Ag Information Network.