eCBOT Close, Early Call

eCBOT grains closed lower with beans down around 12 cents, wheat off 2-3 cents and corn 5-6 cents easier.

Same shit, different week. Global stock markets are a sea of red today on more bad news from the banks and worries about the future of US car makers GM and Chrysler. Crude is under pressure again, and threatening to break below $50/barrel.

Nobody is looking to open up fresh positions ahead of tomorrow's USDA planting intentions and stocks reports.

It looks like the report will show US farmers planting grains and oilseeds on a record 163.7 million acres for 2009.

Soybeans will fill a record 79.25 million acres this year and March 1 corn stocks will be the highest since 1988 as demand from the ethanol sector wanes.

Demand from the feed sector is also slumping as US farmers cut back on cattle, pig & poultry numbers in the face of the recession. This is the first time we have seen herds and flocks across all three sectors contracting at the same time since 1973.

Soybean production in South America seems to be contracting, Argentina's status as a reliable supplier is getting worse, a serious problem for the world's largest supplier of soymeal & oil.

Early calls for this afternoon's CBOT session: Corn futures are expected to open 5 to 7 lower; soybeans 10 to 15 lower; and wheat 2 to 4 lower