Keith Brown DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst    

The cotton market had several wild intraday swings in the aftermath of its post-WASDE action. The report itself was bearish, yet the market ran "hot and cold" several times before settling fractionally higher.    

Numbers-wise, USDA increased the 2022 crop to 14.24 million, up from November's 14.03 million bales. Domestic stocks rose from 3.00 million to 3.5 million. World inventory increased some 2.29 million bales, as global consumption was greatly reduced. Global stocks now stand at 89.56 million compared to last month's 87.27 million.    

Friday afternoon the CFTC will issue its weekly commitments-of-traders report. Last week, the managed-money funds were net long 14,000 contracts, plus or minus.    

Looking into next week, traders will see a potentially-charged CPI number on Tuesday. Then, on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will announce its decision on interest rates. Most likely a 50-basis-point move is dialed in, but a 75-point jump could have adverse effects on the Dow.    

For the week, March cotton is down 2.25 cents; for the month it's off 3.66 cents, and for the year it is down 8.47 cents.    For Friday, March 2023 finished at 80.95 cents, up 0.10 cent, and July 2023 settled at 80.66 cents, 0.27 cent lower; estimated volume was 32,841 contracts.    

Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com 

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