A dry 7-day forecast for all but central and southern Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio leaves a bearish tilt to the market overnight, and the 6 to 10-day forecast shows below normal precipitation. This should allow the crop to get planted in a timely fashion. July corn surged higher yesterday and settled up 3.0% on the day. The market saw spillover support from the wheat market that was up sharply due the extreme cold and snowy weather over the weekend, which caused crop losses in parts of the winter wheat areas. Heavy rains of as much as 6 to 8 inches fell in Missouri, southern Illinois, and southern Indiana over the weekend, and many areas will need to be replanted. The weekly progress update showed 34% of the crop planted compared to 17% last week and 43% last year. The COT data from Friday showed managed money traders increased their net short position by 24,448 contracts to 196,257 contracts as of April 25. Longer term traders could consider buying December call spreads. Close in support for December corn came in at 391 and then down at 388. 413 is the next upside target.

 

 Dec 17′ Corn Daily Chart