A market stuck in the doldrums all week moved sideways and anticipates a less tame scenario next week. There are mixed expectations for the USDA report but a majority of analysts lean bearish.

OUTSIDE MARKETS: The sell-off seen in corn and wheat was unable to spill over to the bean market. Soybeans drifted higher against a dominantly bearish picture as traders cover their shorts and pre-position into next week. ChinaΆs recent appetite for soybeans resulted in record imports of 7.47 Million tons in the month of July; this added support to old crop as the nearby supply situation remains tight.

General Comments: Nearing unchanged by noon, cotton spent the majority of its session trending lower after seeing a higher open. Noontime brought short covering ahead of TuesdayΆs report as speculators favor the sidelines, due to the unknown, resulting in December cotton settling at 64.21.There is a shortage of fresh data and the market moved sideways for a majority of this week; it looks as though the trend is battling a larger U.S. crop and the fact that the futures prices are too lower in comparison with the cash market. Slightly supportive and visible on the export sales reports is that when the market is this low, China can afford to pay the current 40% duty that the government has in place to import cotton.

When looking at the fundamentals that have been in place such as weather and trade data, IΆd expect to see a rise in production closer to but not quite near 17 million bales in the U.S. with a small increase to exports as we are selling at a quick pace. Some analysts believe weΆll see a reduction in ending stocks as well.

From MondayΆs settlement into todays close, the market lost a mere 7 points and open interest gained 3,343. Next week should bring some better volumes and will give us a clearer picture of the global crop size.