For Bloomberg access:{OIAR<GO>}

Soybeans: On February 20, May soybeans generated a short-term buy signal, but remains on intermediate-term sell signal.

May soybeans lost 9.00 cents on volume of 211,531 contracts. Total open interest declined by massive 18,348 contracts, and this was due to the large decline of the March contract, which lost 25,293 of open interest.As this report is been compiled on February 23, May soybeans are trading unchanged after being lower for most of the session. After the generation of a short-term buy signal, the market has a tendency to pull back from 1-3 days and this is the opportunity to initiate bullish positions if you are so inclined. We have no recommendation.

Soybean meal:

May soybean meal lost $1.00 on volume of 102,233 contracts. Total open interest declined by 6,726 contracts, which relative to volume is approximately 160% above average, meaning that liquidation was heavy on the modest decline. Accounting for this was the massive decline of open interest in the March contract of 12,572. As this report is being compiled on February 23, May soybean meal is trading 1.50 lower on the day. On February 19, May soybean meal generated a short-term buy signal, but remains on intermediate-term sell signal. We have no recommendation.

Corn:

May corn lost 4.75 cents on volume of 286,799 contracts. Total open interest declined by massive 38,439 contracts, and this was due to the large liquidation in the March contract of 63,953. As this report is being compiled on February 23, May corn is trading 5.75 cents lower on the day. May corn remains on a short and intermediate term sell signal. Stand aside.

WTI crude oil:

April the WTI lost $1.02 volume of 720,106 contracts. Total open interest declined 2,156 contracts, which is minuscule and dramatically below average. The March contract accounted for loss of 19,638 of open interest. As this report is being compiled on February 23, April WTI is trading 1.62 lower and has made a daily low of 48.67, which is above OIA’s key pivot point for a short term sell signal. In order for April WTI crude oil to generate a short-term sell signal, the high the day must be below OIA’s key pivot point for February 23 of 48.31. Stand aside.

Brent crude oil:

April Brent crude oil lost 1 cent on light volume of 655,513 contracts. Total open interest declined by 8,133 contracts, which relative to volume is approximately 45% less than average. The April contract accounted for loss of 17,574 of open interest. As this report is being compiled on February 23, April Brent is trading 1.13 lower on the day. April Brent crude remains on a short-term buy signal, but an intermediate-term sell signal. Brent crude oil has been outperforming WTI and as a result WTI will generate a short-term sell signal long before Brent. Stand aside.

Heating oil: This will be our last report on heating oil until we announce a signal change or see a trading opportunity.

April heating oil gained 2.55 cents on heavy volume of 261,224 contract. Total open interest declined by 4,451 contracts, which relative to volume is approximately 30% below average. The March contract accounted for loss of 7,929 of open interest. As this report is being compiled on February 23, April heating oil is trading 32 ticks lower on the day. On February 3, heating oil generated a short-term buy signal, but remains on an intermediate-term sell signal. Stand aside.

Gasoline: This will be our last report on gasoline until we announce a signal change or see a trading opportunity.

April gasoline gained 27 ticks on volume of 192,895 contracts. Total open interest increased by 2,088 contracts, which relative to volume is approximately 50% below average. The March contract accounted for loss of 4,262 of open interest. As this report is being compiled on February 23, April gasoline is trading 30 ticks lower. On February 3, April gasoline generated short-term buy signal, but remains on intermediate-term sell signal. Stand aside.

Natural gas: April natural gas will generate a short-term buy signal on February 23 provided the low of day remains above OIA’s key pivot point for February 23 of $2.865.

April natural gas gained 9.7 cents on heavy volume of 493,865 contracts. Total open interest declined by 2,471 contracts, which relative to volume is approximately 75% below average. The March contract account for loss of 20,366 of open interest. As this report is being compiled on February 23, April natural gas is trading 3.8 cents lower.

Gold:

April gold lost $2.70 on volume of 114,882 contracts.Total open interest declined by 352 contracts, which relative to volume is approximately 85% below average. As this report is being compiled on February 23, April gold is trading 5.20 lower and has made a new low for the move at 1190.60. On February 9, April gold generated a short-term sell signal, but has not yet generated and intermediate term sell signal. However, we expect this shortly. Stand aside.

Silver:

May so were lost 10.8 cents on volume of 73,156 contracts. Total open interest declined by 2,674 contracts, which relative to volume is approximately 45% above average mean that liquidation was heavy on the modest decline. As this report is being compiled on February 23, March silver is trading unchanged on the day. On February 18, May silver generated a short-term sell signal, but remains on an intermediate term buy signal. For an intermediate term sell signal to be generated, the high of the day must be below OIA’s key pivot point for February 23 of 16.346. Stand aside.

Cocoa: 

May cocoa gained $4.00 on volume of 23,723 contract. Total of interest increased by 3,411 contracts, which relative to volume is approximately 360% above average. The March contract accounted for loss of 37 of open interest. As this report is being compiled on February 23, May cocoa has closed higher again by $13.00. Stand aside.

Coffee:

May coffee advanced 25 ticks on volume of 26,819 contract. Total open interest declined just 27 contracts. The March contract accounted for loss of 1,505 open interest, which means there were sufficient open interest increases in the forward months to offset most of the decline in March. This is bearish. As this report is being compiled on February 23, May coffee has closed lower again, down 4.65 cents. The market clearly has not found a bottom yet, and we will be following the March contract to determine whether lows in this contract represents a potential bottom. The low for the March contract on February 23 has been 1.4525. Stand aside.