DTN Closing Grain Comments    11/17 13:48
   Traders Move Past USDA Data as Trump Says China Will Buy US Soybeans

   It was a remarkable turnaround session across row-crop futures on Monday
following a bearish close to last week's trade which saw sharply lower corn,
soy, and wheat prices on Friday following data from USDA which I would
characterize as mixed overall, although the released listing of all reportable
sales (100,000 metric tons or higher) of U.S. grains and oilseeds through the
government shutdown was among the more bearish set of figures unveiled during
Friday's busy session. President Trump said over the weekend he had held talks
with China on Friday and reiterated they will be considerably increasing their
purchases of U.S. ag products, most notably soybeans, which went a long way in
easing traders' minds and likely sparked algorithmic buying to begin the new
week, with reports by late morning that China had indeed bought some U.S.
soybeans to start the week. Outside markets were mostly positive as well for
Monday, with slightly higher equities, as well as firm energy markets with
crude oil futures attempting a third straight session higher.

Rhett Montgomery
DTN Lead Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   December corn closed up 4 1/2 cents and March corn was up 4 cents. January
soybeans closed up 32 3/4 cents and March soybeans were up 27 1/4 cents.
December KC wheat closed up 13 1/2 cents, December Chicago wheat was up 17
cents, December MIAX Minneapolis wheat was up 9 cents.