05/01/26 Afternoon CommStock Report – Grains and Livestock Take Major Technical Tests

With help from crude oil prices pushing back above $100 per barrel, grain futures were strengthening toward critical chart levels that included $5 per bushel for corn, $12 for soybeans, and $7 for wheat. The cattle market was similarly benefitting from the additional flow of funds into commodities and traders were trying to determine if futures were lacking the momentum to sustain new all-time highs. The chances for a continued commodity sector breakout were left to depend on the weekend developments with Iran and whether it would become 10 straight Sundays of crude oil futures opening higher.   There were evidently a lot of orders stacked up right under $5 for December corn futures, with the session high reaching $4.99 3/4 on Thursday. Friday’s trade poked above $5 but settled under it. This was the highest level for the December 2026 corn contract since 2023. Some farmers were selling the new-crop with last year in mind, both because current prices were higher and because many still had ample old-crop corn stocks left over. On May 1st last year, the December 2025 corn futures traded up to a high of $4.49 3/4. That contract never reached above $5 in 2025, having…