Comments for Thursday, April 16, 2009

A technical look at the softs: bullish on some, bearish on others.

LUMBER:

Lumber settled higher on Wednesday ahead of the housing starts and building permits reports. Now in a small bear pennant. I have a Sell Signal in Lumber.

COCOA:

Cocoa followed though with another weak close helping to confirm my sell signal with 2300 basis the July contract my next objective.

SUGAR:

Sugar closed lower but is now in a bull flag. However, I would stand aside for the time being. Sugar has been in a wide trading range since the beginning of February.

COTTON:

Cotton closed higher hoping to again test my 5000 objective basis the May contract while now in a bull triangle. I have a Buy Signal for Cotton.

COFFEE:

Coffee closed slightly higher again but now is in a bear flag. Holding the 11285 basis the May contract is very important helping me to hold on to my buy signal. Buy Signal.

ORANGE JUICE:

OJ also closed lower but is in a bull flag. The next objective that I'm looking for is still the 9000 area. BUY SIGNAL.

See the balance of my morning comments, including the Metals, Softs, Energies and Grains, at my website. For my complete coverage, visit my commentary page at www.markethead.com.

Rick Alexander has been a broker and analyst in the futures business for over thirty years. He is a Vice-President for Sales and Trading at the Zaner Group (www.zaner.com) a Chicago-based futures brokerage firm. If you would like a free booklet explaining the charts mentioned above, email Rick at ralexander@zaner.com.