near term price outlook-grains

[ray]

Could somebody provide me with a could web site that provides near term outlook for prices ansd stocks of cereals and oilseeds? Thanks

[Mufferaw]

It depends what you mean by "near term". You might be best to phone Charlie Pearson or another private consultant for near term outlook. Usually you have to pay for that type of information. Public sources are more longer term stuff.<p> For Canadian grains (I'll leave it to someone else to respond on livestock), a supply & disposition table will give you the stocks. To find Alta Agric's, go to Ropin' the Web at www.agric.gov.ab.ca <p> From there, go to crops, then (e.g.) barley, then crop reports & market information, then supply and disposition. Those are the steps for any crop. The trick is to always look at the date of the table. The ones posted now are for December, 1998. Stats Can came out with a Stocks report in early Feb so the Alta Ag info isn't updated yet for that. It doesn't say anything about prices. Don't just use the Stats Can stocks report because it needs to be put in the context of the total available supplies. <p> The other gov't S&D source is Ag Can, Market Analysis. Go to http://www.agr.ca/policy/winn/biweekly/English/framee.htm That one isn't updated either yet, but they usually do after all the major reports. Ag Can's does have a price outlook along with the S&D. The trick here is to read the footnotes as the prices are for a certain quality and location. You might need to adjust the prices by a basis for whatever region you are interested in.<p> The other thing you could check for prices for CWB grains, are the CWB PROs which you can find at the CWB site. Again, those are at the port. At the Alberta Grain Commission site (go to "Agencies" at the Ropin the web site), we've adjusted them for an average Alberta point. Hope this helps get you started. Anyone else have ideas?

[Mufferaw]

If you're looking for a more personal, interactive mode of communication on grain outlook information, you can call the CWB's call center at 1-800-275-4292. The staff there can give you a general overview, or if you would like to get some detailed info, you can ask to speak to one of the market analysts. The internet is at your convenience, however, the call center service is available from 8:00am-6:00pm, Mon-Fri. The toll free number is only active from BC, Alta, Sask and Man.

[Mufferaw]

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. I tend to be a fundamental analyst that concentrates on the supply demand situation/policy but over time I have come to a greater appreciation of looking at the technical side of the world - particularly for short term outlook. A really good site on the internet for charts is http://tfc-charts.w2d.com/custom_menu.phtml.

[Mufferaw]

The Alberta Grain Commission would appreciate any feedback you might on the prices we put out daily (country buying prices, crusher prices etc.) and weekly (feedgrain feedmill/feedlot prices). These are often quoted on your radio station, or you can phone a phone recording, or you can find them on the Internet (if you don't know to get them, just ask me!). Are these prices of use to you? Are they practical? <pr> For example, on the phone tape we give open futures prices in the morning on our phone-in tape. We are considering cancelling these because we question whether they are of any value. Do you pay attention to opening futures? If you would rather phone me or Julie, you can reach us at the Alberta Grain Commission in Edmonton at (780) 427-7329.