Market report March 22, 2013

Global markets are trading higher this morning as investors remain optimistic that Cyprus will manage to raise the $7billion needed to secure funding from the International Monetary Fund and European Central bank and avoid bank collapse.
 
The Canadian dollar is unchanged overnight, as investors largely viewed the budget as containing no big surprises
                                                                                                  
Crops:
Crops are trading modestly lower in the early session. Farm futures released a prediction yesterday of 2013 plantings which showed that US farmers intend to plant .3% more corn than last year….the largest since 1936. Soybean planting intentions are also up 2.5% over last year. Spring weather remains the big question mark, and continued seasonally cold weather this spring may bring more speculators to the table.
 
Livestock:
Prices continue to soften ahead of next Tuesday’s USDA livestock reports. Trading volume remains light. Lower grain prices do not appear to have speculators moving to the livestock sector yet – demand appears to be a concern.
 
This commentary is provided for information only and is not intended as advice