Market report for Monday April 22, 2013

Global markets are opening stronger this morning. The G20 meeting where global finance leaders did not oppose Japan’s plan to increase its money supply to combat deflation was taken as a positive signal by investors. This week’s focus for speculators will be equities, as the world’s largest companies are reporting earnings.
 
Crops:
Crops are weaker across the board. One of the main reasons being cited is anticipation of weaker demand in China because of economic slowdown and effects of Chinese bird flu on crops as a feedstock. Not even last Thursday’s robust USDA US export report which showed a 48% week over week increase in US soybean exports was enough to entice speculators to the crop sector.
Morgan Stanley is expecting agricultural commodities to improve – and possibly outperform from this point if some market fundamentals, such as weak demand and a strong US dollar change.
 
Livestock:
Despite lower crop prices across the board for both last year and this year’s harvests – livestock futures are anticipating a softer open this morning
 
Disclaimer: This commentary is provided for information purposes only and is not intended as adv