Good afternoon and welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving and why.
Soybeans are having a strong session, with the national cash price climbing nineteen cents to twelve dollars and fifty-one cents at midday. The rally is broad-based across the complex — soymeal futures are up eight to eight-twenty, and soy oil is recovering sharply after recent weakness. A private export sale reported by the USDA appears to be the catalyst driving product demand higher.
Shifting to equities, insider buying at American Assets Trust is drawing attention. Executive Chairman Ernest Rady purchased roughly one hundred thousand shares at a weighted average price of twenty-two dollars and fifty-four cents, committing approximately two point three million dollars of his own capital. When a chairman steps in at that size, the market tends to read it as a conviction signal on valuation.
And in the international ETF space, investors weighing developed market exposure outside the United States are looking closely at iShares Core MSCI EAFE against State Street's SPDR Portfolio Developed World ex-US. The iShares vehicle carries a larger asset base and a higher dividend yield, two factors that tend to matter when allocators are hunting for income in a slower-growth global environment.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
