04/13/06 Long weekend ahead for traders

Marketline April 13, 2006 Futures traders wrap up their week today as exchanges will be closed tomorrow for Good Friday. Wheat futures were mostly lower Thursday as contracts corrected after the sharp gains earlier in the week. With the long weekend ahead speculative and fund interests were said to be content to sit on the sidelines. Christopher Modof of R. J. O'Brian at the Chicago Board of Trade says weather remains the key for wheat. Modof: "Still not a lot of rain out there for western Kansas or the Texas-Oklahoma panhandles. That would be a key if they added rain to the forecast. That could be seen as a little bit bearish. We'll watch sales. Watch weather. We'll end it on a short week." On Wednesday May Chicago wheat down seven cents at 3-60 ½. May corn down a nickel at 2-37. Portland cash white wheat steady to four cents higher at mostly 3-63. August new crop unchanged to higher at 3-74. Club wheat 3-83. HRW 11.5 percent protein unchanged at 5-14. Dark northern spring 14% protein down a nickel at 5-59. No Portland barley bids. Ideas that cash fed cattle will trade steady this week helped cattle futures close higher Wednesday. Short covering and the discount of futures to cash were also supportive. It was announced this week that China has agreed to a process that will lead to reopening its market to U.S. beef. June live cattle were up 70 cents at 75-65. May feeders up 72 at 101-65. May Class III milk down four cents at 10-78. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Marketline on the Northwest Ag Information Network. Now this.