U.S. Economy
Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Plosser said that it is still too early to raise interest rates, but also said that he is cautiously optimistic and that things may change around the middle of 2010. The December 2010 eurodollars ended down .01 at 98.82.

Grains and Cotton
The USDA said that Mexico bought 458,750 tons of U.S. corn for this season and another 275,250 tons for 2010-2011. December corn finished down 4 cents at $3.91.

You have to admit, this is impressive: March cotton closed up 1.07 cents at 74.04, the highest close in fourteen months with help from a wet fall and weak U.S. dollar.

Livestock
The USDA said that beef production totaled 2.28 billion pounds in October, down 3% from a year ago. Pork production totaled 2.09 billion pounds, down 3% from a year ago. February cattle ended up .05 at 85.42.

After the close, the USDA said that there were 11.134 million head of cattle on feed on November 1st, up 1.5% from a year ago and roughly as expected. Placements in October were up 1% while marketings were down 3%.

After the close, the USDA said that there were 37.0 million pounds of frozen pork bellies in storage on October 31st, up 71% from a year ago and more than expected. Frozen pork supplies totaled 520 million pounds, down 1% from a year ago and less than expected. February hogs closed up 1.10 at 64.37, helped by profitable packer margins.

After the close, the USDA estimated this week's beef production at 492.8 million pounds, down .5% from a year ago. Pork production was estimated at 475.3 million pounds, down 1.1% from a year ago.

Lumber
January lumber dropped $6.90 to $222.20, still hurting from Wednesday's poor housing starts figures.

Sugar
Late yesterday, the USDA estimated 2009-2010 world sugar production at 153.5 million tons, up 6.8% from the previous year. They also said that 2009-2010 ending stocks will fall 1.6 million tons to 26.0 million tons, or 17% of implied total use, the lowest ratio since 1993-1994. March sugar fell .27 to 22.47.

Orange juice
After the close, the USDA said that there were 1.12 billion pounds of frozen orange juice concentrate in storage on October 31st, up 3% from a year ago. January orange juice was down 1.30 cents at $1.1265.

Metals - Another New High for Gold
February gold ended the day up $4.80 at another new contract high of $1,148.20.

Currencies
European Central Bank President Trichet said in a speech last night that it is time to pull back some of the emergency measures that gave the markets extra liquidity in its time of crisis.

The Bank of Japan met today and kept its interest rate unchanged at .1%, as expected. The Bank also upgraded its assessment of the economy, thanks to an increase in exports. The December yen ended up .0005 at 1.1242.

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At the end of the day,
no matter which of the timid health care proposals pass, the CEO's of private insurance corporations will still profit handsomely from denying people the medical services that they need. Patients and their doctors have little say in the matter. That is beyond bad incentive... Who are we?

Why are banks still permitted to trade derivatives?
The U.S. financial system will never be sound until bankers are banned from making high-leverage, unsecured bets with our government-insured deposits.