Walters Co-op Elevator Association

When money moves, banks tend to find a way to get paid. That's how they make money. And yes, interest rates still matter. Consumers are borrowing, investing, and moving money through the financial system, while global M&A activity rose sharply in the first half of 2026, keeping Wall Street busy. That puts companies like Goldman Sachs (GS) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) in an interesting position. One is closely tied to the dealmaking machine, while the other has built a much broader banking empire.

Live cattle futures caught some strength on Friday, with contracts up $1.10 to $1.65 at the close. December was up $1.30 on the week. USDA reported northern dressed sales at $350-355 and $222-227 live. Southern sales were reported at $228. The Friday morning Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed sales of $228-228.50 on 571 of the 2,596 head offered, with a few $224-228.50 bids.

Cotton futures posted mixed trade on Friday, with contracts down 19 points to 24 points higher. December was down 54 points on the week. Crude oil was up $3.87 per barrel on the session, with the US dollar index $0.255 lower. Weekly CTC data showed managed money adding 1,862 contracts to their net long position in cotton futures and option as of 10/13, taking it to 65,699 contracts.

Soybeans pulled off early losses on Friday, as contracts were down 1 ¾ to 3 cents in the front month and up ½ to 1 ¾ cents in the deferreds. November was 30 ¾ cents lower for the week. We are over halfway through October, as the average close for November has been $12.83, with the harvest price option for price insurance getting discovered. The cmdtyView national average Cash Bean price was down 1 ¼ cents at $12.03 1/2. Soymeal futures were down $1 to $3.10, with Dec slipping $8.50 this week.

Corn futures closed out the Friday session with contracts 1 to 4 ½ cents across the board, as December was 5 ½ cents lower. The CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price was down 3 3/4 cents at $4.35. Now halfway through October the average close for December futures has been $4.91, as the harvest price option for price insurance gets discovered. USDA reported a private export sale of 127,000 MT of corn for 2026/27 to Japan this morning.

The wheat complex headed into the weekend holding onto the weakness on Friday. Chicago SRW contracts fell lower on Friday, with contracts down 1 ½ to 9 ½ cents on the day and December losing 10 ½ cents this week. KC HRW futures slipped back 3 to 9 cents at the close, as the lead December contracts was down 15 ¼ cents from last Friday. MPLS spring wheat was down 5 ¼ to 9 ¾ cents on Friday, with December losing 18 ¾ cents on the week.

Lean hog futures found some strength to close the week, with contracts up 27 cents to $1.25 on Friday. December was still down 90 cents for the week. USDA’s national base hog price was reported at $67.09 on Friday afternoon down $4.61 from the day prior. The CME Lean Hog Index was down another 66 cents on October 14 at $75.09. Export Sales data showed 36,287 MT of pork sales in the week of October 8 for 2026 shipment. Actual exports were tallied at 32,225 MT in that week, a 3-week low.

The S&P 500 Index ($SPX) (SPY) closed down by -1.09% on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DOWI) (DIA) closed down by -0.34%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX) (QQQ) closed down -2.50%. December E-mini S&P futures (ESZ26) fell -1.14%, and December E-mini Nasdaq futures (NQZ26) fell -2.51%. Stock indexes sold off sharply on Friday, with the S&P 500 falling to a 2-week low and the Nasdaq 100 dropping to a 1-month low.

Applied Materials (AMAT) recently launched its brand new $5 billion Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization (EPIC) Center in Silicon Valley, adding one more sign for investors of how aggressively the semiconductor giant is gearing up for the artificial intelligence (AI) era. The company considers the 600,000-square-foot center to be the biggest semiconductor equipment and process technology R&D center in the world.

PepsiCo (PEP) shares are on track to close higher on Oct. 16 despite losing KFC’s U.S. beverage business to its staunch rival: Coca-Cola (KO). The fried-chicken chain announced the Coca-Cola partnership this morning, with the switch beginning in January. KFC expects all 3,600 of its U.S. locations to be serving Coca-Cola by spring 2027. The announcement comes as PepsiCo stock is struggling to regain momentum, currently down about 22% versus its year-to-date high in early February.