Corn, Soybeans May Rise as Remnants of Ike Drench U.S. Crops

By Jeff Wilson

Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Corn and soybeans may rise for a second straight week on speculation excessive rains and winds from Hurricane Ike may damage the two biggest U.S. crops.

Twenty-one of 32 traders, advisers and grain merchants surveyed Sept. 12 from Beijing to Chicago said corn would rise, and 21 of 33 respondents said to buy soybeans. Corn rose 2.7 percent last week to $5.6325 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, the first gain in the last three weeks. Soybeans rose 2.1 percent to $12.02 a bushel. On Sept. 9, soybeans touched $11.57, the lowest since April 1.

Last week's gains were a surprise to the majority of respondents surveyed Sept. 5. Since 2004, 57 percent of the surveys were correct for corn and 60 percent for soybeans.

Weekly results: Bullish on corn: 21 Bullish on soybeans: 21 Bearish on corn: 11 Bearish on soybeans: 12

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Wilson in Chicago at jwilson29@bloomberg.net.