01/17/05 A day off for traders

Marketline January 17, 2005 Futures exchanges are closed today in observance of Martin Luther King Junior Day. When traders return tomorrow they will digest the results of an Egyptian tender announced after trading closed Friday. Ahead of that, wheat futures tumbled and Gary Hofer of Gary Hofer Commodities says Chicago March wheat just may challenge old contract lows. Hofer: "With technical targets now in the lower $2.80`s again, similar to the first half of December's range. That's about 15-cents below today's level. There have lots of conflicting arguments among technically oriented wheat traders about short term direction. The answer is in hand for now. Corn and beans are in no better shape than wheat and in fact were partly responsible for wheat's decline." On Friday Chicago March wheat was down a dime at 2-97 ½. March corn down 2 3/4 at 1-97 1/4. Portland cash white wheat down three cents on limited exporter bids at mostly 3-85. Club wheat 3-91. PNW HRW 11.5 percent protein lower at 4-38. Dark northern spring 14% protein lower at 5-23. Export barley 96 dollars a ton. USDA's Market News says direct feeder cattle in the Northwest were steady to weak last week in a moderate to active trade with good demand especially from eastern interests. Reduced slaughter by packers helped dressed beef demand and that helped fed cattle prices rally $4 last week. Boxed beef was called steady Friday. Cattle futures were mixed in a shortened session with light trading. February live cattle up 15 cents at 91-32. March feeders down 25 at 102-15. February Class III milk up 17 cents at 15-42. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Marketline on the Northwest Ag Information Network.