12/13/24 Afternoon CommStock Report – Speculators Show Doubt about Bullish Corn Bets

Corn futures ran into a wall of resistance this week after the post-report rally to $4.50 produced heavy selling from speculators and farmers alike. Bearish technical traders seized on the momentum failure that started on Wednesday, when March corn futures stopped a penny short of their recent high and then finished the session lower with what looked like the beginning of a ‘shooting star’ candlestick reversal. The poke above the upper volatility band and the inability for the relative strength index to make a new high added to the suspicions that corn was overbought. Farmers also rewarded the recent price strength with cash corn sales that increased short pressure in the futures market.   Speculators leave this week with decisions still to make about how to be positioned when the calendar turns over to 2025. The lack of follow-through for corn futures after being on the verge of a major technical breakout now poses the risk of convincing hedge funds to flip back net-short on corn like they remain for soybeans and wheat. Farmers too will make choices on what to sell and what to carry over into next year. The latest round of farmer selling that occurred this week…