December corn was 24 3/4 cents lower overnight. The dollar was sharply higher and crude oil was sharply lower.

Wednesday's "reversal" rally in corn was followed by a further encouraging up-move yesterday. However, all of this came before the US stock market slid precipitously in late action yesterday afternoon. This has brought a resumption of the worldwide wave of selling in financial and commodity markets which took corn, wheat and the soybean complex sharply lower again overnight. This comes against a backdrop of important USDA reports and other fundamental developments within the corn market to end the week. Export sales were out yesterday, and they are moving higher. This surge is a normal seasonal factor as well as an indication that the world's buyers are responding to lower prices for US corn. Net export sales for corn jumped to 957,900 tonnes which was well above expectations. Cumulative sales stood at 28.5% of the USDA forecast for 2008/09 slightly below the 5 year average of 29.6%. Japan, Mexico and Guatemala were the largest buyers. The USDA will release its October Supply and Demand Reports prior to the open today and traders are expecting yield and production estimates to be unchanged, but they are also expecting a possible drop in demand projections. This, combined with the increased supply seen on the September Quarterly Stocks Report, is expected to result in a boost in 2008/09 ending stocks of well over 100 million bushels. Mostly dry weather across the Midwest over the weekend should result in a significant jump in harvest progress on Monday afternoon's USDA Crop Progress Report.

Forecasts remain the same. Basically warm temperatures in most harvest areas with mostly dry weather in the Midwest through the weekend. A rain system is expected to move from west to east across major harvest areas on Monday and Tuesday followed by another patch of mostly dry weather next week in most of the Midwest. Tunisia is tendering for 50,000 tonnes of barley.