U.S. Economy
Same-store sales at Wal-Mart were up 3.2% in April, better than expected. At Costco, same-store sales were up 8% in April, also better than expected.

The U.S. Labor Department said that jobless claims were down 18,000 to 365,000, less than expected. The March eurodollars were up .11 at 97.095.

Grains
The USDA said that, as of last week, 2007-2008 exports of:
Corn remained up 16% from a year ago.
Soybeans remained down 3% from a year ago.
Wheat remained up 46% from a year ago (with four weeks left).
Cotton slipped from up 27% to up 25% from a year ago.

Last week's net sales of cotton were impressive at 564,000 bales. July cotton was up .48 at 70.85 ahead of tomorrow's monthly USDA supply and demand estimates.

Rain is falling today in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania - several places where farmers would like a break from the rain to get some planting done. December corn finished up 15.75 cents at a new contract high of $6.462.

Today's U.S. Drought Monitor continues to show extreme drought conditions in the western half of North Dakota and abnormal dryness in much of the winter wheat crop's growing area. July wheat closed up 14.5 cents at $8.22.

Livestock
August cattle closed up 1.67 at a new contract high of 9930, blamed on fund-buying and active interest from packers for slaughter-ready cattle.

Lumber
Housing starts in Canada were at an annual rate of 213,900 units in April, down 12% from March's pace. July lumber ended down .70 at $251.80.

Coffee
The Brazilian government estimated its upcoming coffee harvest at 45.5 million (60 kg) bags, up from last month's estimate of 44.2 million bags. Many analysts are looking for the crop to top 50 million bags. July coffee closed up 3.45 cents at $1.3455.

Energies
The U.S. Department of Energy said that underground supplies of natural gas were up 65 billion cubic feet last week to 1.436 trillion cubic feet. Supplies are now down 17% from a year ago. July natural gas was down 8.2 cents at $11.37.

Currencies
Australia's Bureau of Statistics said that the unemployment rate increased from 4.1% to 4.2% in April, but 25,400 new jobs were added, more than expected. The June Australian dollar ended up .01 at 93.87.

The Bank of England met and kept the interest rate unchanged at 5.0%. The European Central Bank also kept its interest rate unchanged at 4.0%. The June euro was up .0004 at $1.5375.

India put a stop to trading futures in soybean oil in an effort to keep down prices.

Toyota predicted that it will have its first annual loss in seven years, due to a stronger yen and weaker U.S. sales.