Keith Brown DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst    

The cotton market finished limit bid Friday amid short-covering speculators and bargain hunting buyers. The market suffered its worst single week decline that we can remember, falling some 11.00 cents-plus points into Thursday close. Thus, on a Friday, the market was primed for a snap-up.     

Friday afternoon, the CFTC will issue its commitments of traders data. Traders want to see how much reduction has been done, if any, to the once-mighty net long position held by the managed-money funds.    

China's second quarter economy contracted to its lowest level since COVID-19 started. This data is raising concerns over its future commodity import demand. In fact, most global financial and commodity analysts are worried about a slowdown in the global economy due to inflation and supply chain challenges.      

Weather-wise, the six- to 10-day forecast calls for above-normal temperatures and below-normal chances of precipitation for Texas and the Delta, with above-normal precipitation in the Southeast. Currently, some Georgia growers are indicating they are getting too much rain.    

For the week, December was down 6.92 cents, for the month, it was off 10.13 cents points, and for the year, it is down 3.94 cents.    

For Friday, December closed at 88.71 cents, down 5.00 cents, March 2023 finished at 84.85 cents, up 4.00 cents, and July 2023 settled at 71.26 cents, up 4.00 cents; estimated volume was 22,247 contracts.    

Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com 

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