TOP STORIES

McDonald's Offering Delivery Themed Loungewear -- Market Talk

12:27 ET - McDonald's says it's offering free "cozy socks" and slippers to US customers who order food on Thursday evening through Uber's Uber Eats platform. The promotion is for the chain's third "Global McDelivery Night In." The company is also selling "plush loungewear" and games. The chain says that 1M customers worldwide order McDonald's delivery on any given day, and 60% of orders are placed at night. The chain expects delivery to reach $4B in sales globally this year, and will be available in 10,000 US restaurants as it strikes deals with more providers. (heather.haddon@wsj.com; @heatherhaddon)

STORIES OF INTEREST

Corn Prices Rise as Farmers Bet on Crop Conditions

Corn for December delivery rose 1.4% to $3.74 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Monday, with farmers holding off on selling in anticipation of higher prices to come.

Wheat for December delivery rose 1.1% to $4.88 3/4 a bushel.

Soybeans for November delivery rose 0.1% to $9.00 a bushel.

Soybean Conditions Slip, Corn Condition Steady -- Market Talk

16:13 ET - Crop conditions for US soybeans dropped one percentage point to 54% in good or excellent condition, according to the USDA. Meanwhile, the percentage of corn in that condition stayed unmoved at 55%. Traders previously expected the corn crop to show a 1-2 percentage point drop. However, both corn and soybeans are still showing signs of being behind the normal developmental pace. Only 18% of corn is considered to be mature this week, down from 39% at this time last year. Only 68% of US corn is dented, compared to 87% last year. Meanwhile, cotton crop condition fell to 41% in good-excellent condition -- down from 43% last week. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

Grain Export Inspection Shows More Beans to China -- Market Talk

11:28 ET - China continues to be a top destination for soybeans shipped out of the US, the USDA says in its grain inspection report. Some 666,490 metric tons of soybeans were inspected for the week ending Sept. 12, with roughly 350,000 tons being inspected for shipment to China. Corn inspections totaled 421,803 tons, and wheat inspections totaled 459,258 tons -- with only wheat inspections being more than this time last year. Corn futures are up 1.2% in trading Monday, while wheat is up 1% and soybeans are up 0.1%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

FUTURES MARKETS

Hogs Give Back Half of Last Week's Gains -- Market Talk

16:30 ET - Hog futures on the CME finish down 4.3% to 63.625 cents a pound--giving back nearly half of what the contract gained over the course of two days last week. However, this drop is viewed by many traders as being driven by computer algorithms, and hog prices are expected to move back up as Chinese supply decreases. "The Chinese supply continues to see a record drop and thus continues to create record high pork prices as of today, which has now jumped roughly 78%," says Craig VanDyke of Top Third Ag Marketing. Live cattle futures finished down 0.1%, to 98c. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Sep 16 
 
 This report reflects U.S. pork packer processing margins. The margin indices 
are calculated using current cash hog or carcass values and wholesale pork 
cutout values and may not reflect actual margins at the plants. These 
estimates reflect the general health of the industry and are not meant to 
be indicative of any particular company or plant. 
Source: USDA, based on Wall Street Journal calculations 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Sep 16       +$ 41.62            +$ 15.47 
Sep 13       +$ 39.52            +$ 14.79 
Sep 12       +$ 46.70            +$ 20.70 
 
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production. 
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of 
production of the animals. 
 
Beef-O-Meter 
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite 
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices. 
 
                                 Beef 
          For Today             Choice  108.0 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)     Select  100.1 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Monday fell 26 cents per hundred pounds, to $220.62, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell $2.03 per hundred pounds, to $196.57. The total load count was 101. Wholesale pork prices rose 32 cents, to $67.60 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 16, 2019 17:30 ET (21:30 GMT)

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