December traded sharply lower Thursday as speculators abandoned long positions against dollar strength. In addition to Wednesday’s interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve, the dollar received an even bigger bullish jolt Thursday morning when the Commerce Department released its report on second-quarter GNP.

That number was 4.2%, and it points to the fundamental fact that the U.S. Economy is booming. Ordinarily, cotton might have benefited from such a bullish number if it were not for the trade war. To that end, President Trump chastised Chinese trading practices in his speech at the UN in New York Wednesday, which will likely widen the resolution divide.

Technically, once the market violated its low of last week (7790), stops were touched off and big selling emerged. Estimated volume was about 24,000 contracts traded. Thursday’s close was the lowest since April 24. Next week, “official harvest” begins as the market enters the gathering window of Oct-Nov-Dec time frame. That event should bring in hedge-type selling, as the pipeline fills. Last season the 2017 harvest low fell on October 20,

December cotton 7772, down 83, March 19 finished 7829, off 70, and December 19, settled 7605 down 24 points.