DTN Early Word Grains         04/18 05:51
   Grain Markets Mixed Thursday Morning; Corn, Soybean Futures Defensive

   May corn is steady, May soybeans are down 4 1/4 cents, July KC wheat is up 6
cents, May Chicago wheat is up 4 3/4 cents and May Minneapolis wheat is up 7
3/4 cents.

Kent Beadle, DTN Contributing Analyst

   EARLY MORNING GLOBEX NET CHANGES: May corn is steady, May soybeans are down
4 1/4 cents, July KC wheat is up 6 cents, May Chicago wheat is up 4 3/4 cents
and May Minneapolis wheat is up 7 3/4 cents.

   CME GLOBEX RECAP: World equity markets are mixed Thursday morning after U.S.
markets posted a mixed session Wednesday. The bearish sentiment seems to
continue, with higher interest rates and strong economic data generally keeping
a fed rate cut further in the future. The higher interest rates will weigh on
corporate earnings, and that has equity traders nervously waiting for each new
data point.

   This morning, we will get the weekly jobless claims number, existing home
sales, and U.S. leading economic indicators.

   OUTSIDE MARKETS: Previous close Wednesday showed the Dow Jones Industrial
Average down 45.66 at 37,753.31 and the S&P 500 down 29.20 at 5,022.21, The
10-Year Treasury yield ended at 4.59%. Early Thursday, the June Dow Jones
Futures are up 16 points. European markets are mixed with the spot futures of
London's FTSE 100 trading up 0.2%, spot futures of Germany's DAX is trading
down 0.02% and the spot futures of France's CAC 40 Index up 0.51%. Asian
markets are higher with Japan's Nikkei 225 Index up 0.31% and China's Shanghai
Composite Index up 0.09%.