STOCK UPDATE: Dow 30: 33,926.01 (-127.93); Nasdaq: 12,006.95 (-193.87); S&P 500: 4,136.48 (-43.28)
Market Update
SHORT-RANGE WEATHER: A strong arctic front and associated gusty winds will produce bitter wind chills as cold as -50 or colder from the Upper Midwest to the Northeast
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
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
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
Gas prices up 7 cents this week to $3.49, up 12 cents from last year. Diesel prices up 2 cents this week to $4.62, up 78 cents from last year
Cash Prices
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
SHORT-TERM ENERGY OUTLOOK: We forecast that the Brent crude oil price will average $83 per barrel (b) in 2023, down 18% from 2022, and continue to fall to $78/b in 2024 as global oil inventories build, putting downward pressure on crude oil prices
Market Update
USDA CROP PRODUCTION: All cotton production is forecast at 14.2 million 480-pound bales, up 2 percent from the previous forecast, but down 19 percent from 2021
WASDE
BEFORE THE BELL: U.S. stock index futures were subdued ahead of the keenly awaited December inflation data that would offer more clues on the Federal Reserve's path of monetary tightening. Gold gained on softer dollar. Oil prices rose supported by optimism over China's demand outlook (Reuters)
Market Update
“The outlook for the world economy is actually improving,” the president and founder of Yardeni Research said Wednesday. US equities “made a low on Oct. 12. That was the end of the bear market and we’re back in a bull market.” (Bloomberg)
Market Update
AG ECONOMY BAROMETER: Following a two-month decline and a year of weak sentiment, the Ag Economy Barometer closed out the year on a more positive note, rallying 24 points in December to a reading of 126
Market Update
USDA Crop Production Comments: Upland harvested area for the Nation is expected to total 7.71 million acres, unchanged from the previous forecast but down 24 percent from last year
Market Update
FARM LABOR: There were 785,000 workers hired directly by farm operators on the Nation's farms and ranches during the week of October 9-15, 2022, up 2 percent from the October 2021 reference week
Market Update
AG SUMMARY: Apart from the Southwest, October was warmer than normal for most of the western half of the Nation
Market Update