STOCK UPDATE: Dow 30: 33,963.84 (-106.58); Nasdaq: 13,211.81 (-12.17); S&P 500: 4,320.06 (-9.94) (Lower Bond Yields Spark Mild Recovery In Stocks)
Market Update
SHORT-RANGE WEATHER: Strong to severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall for portions of the Plains through Friday
Weather
DROUGHT MONITOR: It’s hot and dry in the Southwest. Exceptional drought (D4) has developed or expanded in parts of Utah and New Mexico. Meanwhile, most states in the West and Great Plains saw improvements, except for areas of Montana and Texas
Weather
DROUGHT MONITOR: Amidst the wild and devastating weather week, drought mostly held at status quo. The West saw some improvements, and the Southern Plains saw degradations, with mostly small changes elsewhere (VIEW REPORT)
Weather
Gas prices up 6 cents this week to $3.88, up $0.22 from last year. Diesel prices up 9 cents this week to $4.63, down $0.33 from last year
Cash Prices
USDA CROP PRODUCTION: Total planted area, at 94.9 million acres, is up 1 percent from the previous estimate and up 7 percent from 2022. Area harvested for grain is forecast at 87.1 million acres, up 1 percent from the previous forecast and up 10 percent from last year
WASDE
USDA CROP PRODUCTION COMMENTS: Acreage updates were made in several States based on a thorough review of all available data. Total planted area, at 83.6 million acres, is up less than 1 percent from the previous estimate but down 4 percent from the previous year
Market Update
SHORT-TERM ENERGY OUTLOOK: The Brent crude oil spot price averages $85 per barrel (b) in August in our forecast. Crude oil prices have increased since June, primarily because of extended voluntary cuts to Saudi Arabia’s crude oil production and increasing global demand
Market Update
AG ECONOMY BAROMETER: Agricultural producer sentiment improved slightly in July as the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer index rose 2 points to a reading of 123
Market Update
Invasive fruit flies have been found near Los Angeles, prompting a produce quarantine (AP)
US Cattle Report by National Beef Wire
Europe is a different story. Christine Lagarde is confronting how tighter monetary policy is driving the euro-zone economy into the ground. The European Central Bank president on Thursday offered a downbeat assessment of a “deteriorated” economic outlook... (Bloomberg)
Market Update
FARM LABOR: There were 651,000 workers hired directly by farm operators on the Nation's farms and ranches during the week of April 9-15, 2023, up 3 percent from the April 2022 reference week
Market Update
BEFORE THE BELL: Wall Street futures climbed, a day after the Federal Reserve hinted it was close to pausing its market-punishing interest rate hikes following the recent turmoil in the banking sector (Reuters)
Market Update
Swiftly rising interest rates have led to two main problems for banks that failed to properly factor in this risk: (1) the value of their assets (think: bonds, loans, investments) fell as rates rose, and (2) customers withdrew more idle cash from their accounts in favor of higher-interest investments (Robinhood)
NBW Market Commmentary
The White House on Wednesday was due to announce fresh efforts to slash credit card late fees and drive down the prices that Apple and Google parent Alphabet charge on mobile app stores, part of a larger policy drive to promote competition in consumer markets (Reuters)
Market Update
China's African Trade Takeover... In the last 20 years, the value of Chinese exports to African countries jumped from five billion U.S. dollars to 110 billion (@zerohedge)
Market Update
The radar mosaic at http://radar.weather.gov is painting quite an active day today across much of the central US. This multi-hazard winter storm is expected to intensify over the central Plains today and progress downstream toward the Great Lakes on Thursday (NWS)
Weather