As we head into the 4th of July weekend Tropical Storm Arthur's predicted path for now seems to be heading up the eastern seaboard. The National Hurricane Center is warning residents to monitor Arthur's path as it could develop into a category 1 hurricane as early as Thursday. Even though the projected path is less threatening to the gulf which could have had a direct effect on natural gas (NYMEX:NGN14) injection numbers the August contract is not necessarily discounting the threat with the August contract currently trading at 4.449 which is .006 of a cent lower in the overnight electronic session. The trading range has been 4.459 to 4.435 so far. The threat of Arthur and tomorrows EIA Gas Storage number should be interesting going into the holiday weekend.
On the crude oil (NYMEX:CLN14) front the API data showed crude oil inventories dropped 875 thousand barrels. The market seemed to shrug this off with no immediate effect on Iraq's oil output so far. In the overnight electronic session the August crude oil (NYMEX:CLQ14) is currently trading at 10505 which is 29 points lower. The trading range has been 10550 to 10483 so far. This morning the EIA will report their version of inventories which may confirm or discount the API data.
On the Ethanol (CBOT:ZKN14) front there were no trades posted in last night electronic session. The July contract settled at 2.087 and posted 1 bid @ 2.005 and 1 offer @ 2.138 which is a wide spread as we head into expiration mode. The August contract settled at 2.032 and is showing 1 bid @ 2.025 and 3 offers @ 2.055.
On the corn (CBOT:ZCN14) front traders are wary about flood damage soil moisture and erosion creating damage or disease that could effect this overall good to excellent crop so far. In the overnight electronic session the July Corn is currently trading at 420 ¾, which is 2 cents lower at this writing. The trading range has 423 ¼ 420 ¼. The big question going into the holiday weekend is: Did this market find a temporary bottom?