Reading Time: 2 minutes Dec. 1 –– Outside markets showed good strength, with gold reaching new all-time highs and the Dow Jones hitting its highest level so far for 2009. The U.S. dollar continued to drop, which helped spur buying of commodities. Grains followed the momentum, but that soon stalled out and sent things back down, with some grains […] Read more
Wittal: Market corrections expected for holidays
Wittal: Even more canola expected in StatsCan data
Reading Time: 2 minutes Nov. 30 — Markets were mixed at the open, but as the day went on, buying interest seemed to improve and we saw some nice gains in most markets, especially grains. The trade seemed to put the Dubai news aside and ignored it as the day went on, which hopefully is a good sign that […] Read more
Wittal: Dubai default could cause grains meltdown
Reading Time: 2 minutes Nov. 27 — Alarming news out of Dubai that Dubai World could default on some of its estimated US$59 billion debt sent financial markets tumbling, pulling all other markets down as well. As the day went on we did see a retracement in grains, as the U.S. dollar backed down off its highs for the […] Read more
Wittal: Nowhere for canola futures to go but down
Reading Time: 2 minutes Nov. 26 — With the U.S. markets closed for Thanksgiving there wasn’t a lot of activity on the Canadian side today. The Canadian dollar closed down 1.47 cents today at US94.17 cents. The Dow Jones December quote closed down 179 points at 10,263 today. Crude oil closed up $1.73 today at US$77.96 per barrel. Canadian […] Read more
Wittal: Speculators return as U.S. dollar slips
Reading Time: 2 minutes Nov. 25 — Markets were buoyed by the continued surge in gold values and the drop in the U.S. dollar. This was enough to embolden speculators to re-enter the markets ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday and take positions in anticipation of further drops in the U.S. dollar over the next few weeks. The U.S. […] Read more
Wittal: Wheat, corn futures drop
Reading Time: 2 minutes Nov. 24 — A typical turnaround Tuesday had financial and energy markets falling back slightly from yesterday’s positive close. U.S. grain markets were mixed, with beans being the only grain to show gains on the day as continued new sales helped support the futures. Corn and wheat took some hard hits today, with wheat seeing […] Read more
Wittal: U.S. grains lose momentum of falling dollar
Reading Time: 2 minutes Nov. 23 –– Financial markets found new momentum today and regained most of the losses from last week. The energy sector was rather quiet but ended the day with small gains in both crude and natural gas. U.S. grain markets started the day with solid gains as speculators tried to push futures in the hopes […] Read more
Wittal: Mini-rally was easy to miss
Reading Time: 2 minutes Nov. 20 — Financial markets continued to be in a bad mood again today and closed with losses across the board, which also led crude oil to finish with losses on the day as well. The U.S. grain markets were mixed with corn and wheat down again today while beans were able to hold onto […] Read more
Wittal: Canola drifts lower
Reading Time: 3 minutes Nov. 19 –– Financial markets were in a bad mood from the start and ended up with losses across the board. Gold was steady today with very little change, up less than a dollar on the day, closing at $1,141.90 on December futures. The energy sector took its cue from the financials and ended down […] Read more
Wittal: Speculative U.S. buying seen drying up
Reading Time: 2 minutes Nov. 18 — Financial markets were quiet and ended down slightly even with the U.S. dollar falling. Gold was steady to up today, closing at $1,141 on December futures. The energy sector was mixed, with crude up marginally and natural gas down on the day. U.S. grain markets started the day in a positive mood […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
