Consolidating trade of this week's chaos is the order of the day.

March 13, 2026

It has been quite a week, yet after all the chaos since last week Friday, this morning crude oil shows a gain on the week of $2.00, corn is near steady (new crop is a few pennies higher yet), wheat is softer, while soybeans hold gains of over $0.15. That gain on the week, as of this morning for soybeans, reflects a loss of nine cents overnight.

Releases from the strategic reserves through the G-7 is a short-term solution to a larger problem. The Strait of Hormuz still remains mostly closed. It’s been estimated roughly 5 Mil barrels of crude oil have exited under Iranian or Chinese flagships this week when typically 100 Mil barrels would move. Depleting strategic reserves for a month is one thing, but what happens when those reserves start to get reduced, and Saudi oil production is only beefed up by just over 1 Mil barrels. Russia is now being allowed to at least sell all its floating oil, and next thing you know sanctions on Russian oil will get dropped in order to keep crude oil from again pushing back over 100 when demand destruction will be needed if the Strait is not reopened.