Today

The Dollar had a bit of a rough day. The Bank of (South) Korea said yesterday that they plan to "diversify" their reserves into other currencies, and South Korea is the fourth largest holder of $ reserves. (Domino Theory anyone?) Add to that crude oil's rapid rise to above $51 a barrel - and it spooks people. (How smart are Specialists and Members? See previous)

Our trusted Shipping Index was a bit weaker today.

NYSE Advancing Declining Issues & Volume are probably overdone and due to bounce.

NYSE Advance Decline Line is below the 20 day average.

S&P and Dow Point & Figure charts show O's but no sell yet.

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U.S. Consumer Confidence came in at 104 , down from 105.1, but still better than expected.
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YoY, consumer prices in Canada were up 2.0% in January, down from 2.1% in December.
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Canada's index of composite leading indicators was up 0.2% in January to 201.6.
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Consumer spending in France was up 1.5% in January and up 3.8% YoY.
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In regards to soybeans there are continued concerns about hot and dry conditions in Southern Brazil. AgRural, estimated Brazil's soybean crop at 60 million tons, less than the USDA's estimate of 63 million tons (2.3 billion bushels). There is a chance that Southern Brazil may get some scattered showers this week, but high temperatures are expected in the upper-90's and low-100's.
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The USDA said that there were 63.5 million pounds of frozen bellies in storage on January 31st, up 0.7% YoY. Frozen pork inventories totaled 499 million pounds, down 1% YoY.
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The USDA said that as of January 31st, there were 1.49 billion pounds of frozen orange juice in U.S. cold storage, down 8% YoY.
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