Blog Articles by Hector Galvan

Reuters - NY sugar plummets to 20-mth low; cocoa, coffee end down By: Hector GalvanMay 8th, 2012 3:10PM CDT "Everyone is riding the intensity of the outside markets, except coffee, which many can still argue has no direction because of a significant lack of fundamentals from South America." - Hector Galvan, senior market strategist for RJO Futures in Chicago To read the full article with Hector's comments, please go to Reuters.com

Reuters - SOFTS-Cocoa jumps nearly 5 pct, arabica coffee shoots higher By: Hector GalvanApril 24th, 2012 12:22PM CDT "The dollar's down and all the other markets are recovering after yesterday's dip. It's turnaround Tuesday," said Hector Galvan, senior market strategist for RJO Futures senior market strategist in Chicago. He said coffee and cocoa futures were "following the trend higher." To read the full article with Hector's.... Read More

Where are the Rivers of Chocolate?? By: Hector GalvanApril 18th, 2012 9:47AM CDT The cocoa market has been plagued most recently by the uncertainty of how much quality cocoa will come to light at the end of the mid crop season. Major producers like Ivory Coast and Ghana have been painting us different pictures of the growing year. Nonetheless, we cannot dispute the numbers that the European Cocoa Association just presented at.... Read More

Rueters- Sugar and cocoa rise on weak dollar, coffee mixed By: Hector GalvanApril 13th, 2012 7:59AM CDT "Right now, most people are spreading. We're seeing everything move into the July contract in big form," said Hector Galvan, senior market strategist for brokerage RJO Futures. Galvan said it doesn't look like the inversion is due to any short-term supply issues at this point. Robusta coffee trickled lower, while US arabicas fin.... Read More

Bloomberg - Cocoa Jumps on Ivory Coast Supply Concern: Commodities at Close By: Hector GalvanMarch 9th, 2012 8:42AM CST Soro’s resignation “in conjunction with the outside markets like the weak dollar and strong equities help propel cocoa higher,” Hector Galvan, a senior broker at RJO Futures in Chicago, said in an e-mail. To read the full article with Hector's comments, please go to Bloomberg.com.

Business Recorder - Sugar firm in light trade, coffee mixed By: Hector GalvanJanuary 19th, 2012 9:16AM CST "If we sell off again people are going to be looking to bounce off the bottom again," said Hector Galvan, senior market strategist for RJO Futures. "Funds are the major players in the market today, initially doing some short-covering and then the market turned right back down," he added. To read the full article, go to brecorder.c.... Read More

Bloomberg - Cocoa Jumps Most Since October 2009 in N.Y.; Sugar, Coffee Gain By: Hector GalvanJanuary 10th, 2012 8:29AM CST “Whenever you see a country being immobilized, you run the risk of exports not moving at all,” Hector Galvan, a senior commodities broker at RJO Futures in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. “Nigeria is not Ivory Coast, but when all is said and done, it’s one of the top producers.” To read the full article go to .... Read More

Business Recorder - Sugar jumps four percent By: Hector GalvanJanuary 4th, 2012 9:38AM CST "It really is just dealing with the dollar being lower," said Hector Galvan, senior market strategist for RJO Futures in Chicago. To read the full article go to the Business Recorder.

Business Recorder - ICE coffee slips By: Hector GalvanDecember 22nd, 2011 12:19PM CST "I think we found a short-term bottom with the rally that we had. One can actually draw a line in the sand right around $2,050 on the idea that maybe we'll trade sideways for a while," said Hector Galvan, senior market strategist for RJO Futures in Chicago. Raed the full article brecorder.com.

Bloomberg - Sugar Gains in New York on Lower Supply From Brazil; Cocoa Rises By: Hector GalvanDecember 15th, 2011 1:11PM CST “Brazil may be down in their southern region in regards to sugar production, which is helping to support prices,” said Hector Galvan, a senior commodities broker at RJO Futures in Chicago. “The sugar market is looking for direction on any piece of news that’ll send it higher again.” Read the full article at Bloomberg.c.... Read More

Business Recorder: Cocoa soars after Olam deficit report By: Hector GalvanDecember 13th, 2011 1:33PM CST "People who have been holding contracts for a very long time, likely, are just pulling the plug," said Hector Galvan, senior market strategist for brokerage RJO Futures in Chicago. See full article at brecorder.com.

Bloomberg - Sugar Rebounds as Industry Group Cuts Brazil Crop Forecast; Coffee Rises By: Hector GalvanNovember 3rd, 2011 9:28AM CDT “The report out of Brazil is helping support sugar, and I think the market may have gotten a little overdone with all the sell-offs we’ve had in the past 48 hours,” Hector Galvan, a senior trading adviser at RJO Futures in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. Click here for the complete Bloomberg article.

Digging for Gold By: Hector GalvanOctober 31st, 2011 11:26AM CDT Good Morning! The equities markets are trading lower and the dollar higher this morning after another large Japanese currency intervention. However, as I watch the gold trade lower, but not break below the 1700 mark in the December contract I am reminded to buy it on breaks. One would argue that as long as we can hold above the 1700 mark having a l.... Read More

Looking to Strangle the Soybeans By: Hector GalvanOctober 28th, 2011 10:50AM CDT Soybeans have been a difficult market to gauge recently. However, with the USDA supply and demand report coming up on the 9th of November I still believe that we are looking to trade sideways for the next several weeks. Looking at the chart this morning I’m strongly considering the January 1050-1450 soybean strangle. If I can take in eight .... Read More

Bloomberg - Cocoa Futures Rise as Demand by Processors Climbs; Sugar Drops By: Hector GalvanOctober 26th, 2011 3:22PM CDT “Cocoa has been down so much this year, but there’s still demand,” Hector Galvan, a senior trading adviser at RJO Futures in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. “End-users are buying it up at these prices.” Click here for the complete Bloomberg article.

Cocoa Futures Bottoming Out By: Hector GalvanOctober 26th, 2011 1:36PM CDT Cocoa this morning is holding positive numbers even as the outside markets are weakening. Some may be curious why cocoa seems untouched by the sudden drop in other commodities. Cocoa is trying to hold above water after the decline that began on the 6th of September which took prices down as low as 2523. It can be argued that we have found a bottom .... Read More

The Central Bank of Canada leave Rates Unchanged By: Hector GalvanOctober 25th, 2011 10:50AM CDT It’s a new morning and with that said it seems as though the Canadian dollar will have to struggle further. The Central Bank of Canada did not hike interest rates today as some were hoping to see in the mist of what is still a very turbulent global economic situation. In not moving rates higher one can argue that we are being given a clear .... Read More

Correction in the Wheat Futures, Maybe? By: Hector GalvanOctober 19th, 2011 9:59AM CDT As I look at the Dec wheat futures chart this morning I can’t help but notice how oversold the market has been recently and the small, but noticeable correction it has been making. I would argue that we will likely be supported by the corn market and that the 600 Level in Dec wheat should hold at least until we get to the next crop report on .... Read More

Live Cattle Futures Tear Higher By: Hector GalvanOctober 17th, 2011 12:01PM CDT It looks as if live cattle futures are once again on a tear higher. Obvious fundamental factors have been key in pushing for higher prices the past few trading sessions. However, we are nearing a large resistance point in the February live cattle which I believe deserves some attention. On July 13th of this year we traded a high of 127.00 only to .... Read More

S&P 500 Futures "The Big Picture" By: Hector GalvanOctober 13th, 2011 9:43AM CDT The S&P 500 futures once again is giving us all another opportunity to look at the “Big Picture”. Currently as we start the day we are trading at 1193.25 after having a rally the day prior to 1216.00. Without a close above 1201.00, I strongly believe people should start looking at nearby put spreads to catch any large scale downtu.... Read More

Volatility in the Sugar Futures Market By: Hector GalvanOctober 11th, 2011 9:13AM CDT Sugar has been a very volatile market in recent weeks with the profound loses from its highs of 30.60 in the March contract in early August to our most recent rebound from the lows at 24.00 just days ago. As of right now one can argue that sugar is setting itself up for a major rebound back to the 28.00 area; we continue to make higher lows on a d.... Read More

Natural Gas; is it today's Technical Wonder? By: Hector GalvanJune 2nd, 2011 8:50AM CDT As we start the first Thursday in June it looks as if we may have a new technical setup in the natural gas. Most people may have not noticed, but many of the factors that have pushed natural gas down the past year are still very much present. We have not had a draw in natural gas in many weeks and storage continues to build up in the physical mar.... Read More

Will Mother Nature Deal Corn a New Hand? By: Hector GalvanMay 24th, 2011 11:00AM CDT It never ceases to amaze me how quick a market can put the brakes on when investors feel that it has lost all of its potential. Corn has been on a tear to the upside for weeks with a very strong and define trend offering bulls a great deal of support. However, as we saw in yesterdays planting report we are only 21% behind what is needed to comple.... Read More

The Mystery of Corn By: Hector GalvanMay 16th, 2011 4:29PM CDT I just saw the plantings numbers for the week and I am surprised. We came in at 63% which is still lower than the 87% we had last year, and well below the 75% average. I would have thought last week's weather conditions would have slowed some of the corn progress. However, even though this week's number is weaker than the average I still.... Read More