Course 04 of 20 · Agricultural Commodities Desk Academy

Cash Prices, Futures & Basis

Stage A, Crop, grade and price fundamentals. Level 2 of 10.

The definitions and quotation mechanics only: what a cash price, a futures contract and a basis number are, how each is quoted, and how the three are read together on a bid sheet.

113 chapters · 10 modules · every chapter one 8 to 10 minute explainer · builds on: Course 01, Course 02, Course 03

Enrol or enquire See the 113 chapters
How a chapter is delivered

One chapter is one idea taken to the point of use

Each chapter covers one idea to the point where you can use it, and comes two ways: a narrated explainer, and a deep dive audio discussion of around thirty minutes that works the same material at depth.

Self-paced throughout, and the same chapters can be taught as a cohort. Chapters run in order: each one assumes only what the chapters before it taught, and capability belonging to a later course is named and deferred rather than half-covered.

Curriculum

10 modules · 113 chapters

Open any module for its full chapter list, in teaching order.

M0 What a Grain Bid Sheet Is Saying Ch 1-10
  1. Three Numbers Behind One Posted Grain Bid
  2. The Bid Sheet as a Document Before Any Arithmetic
  3. What a Grain Figure Must Declare to Be Usable
  4. Who Quotes to Whom From Farm Gate to Export Berth
  5. Cash, the Board and the Basis in Desk Language
  6. A Posted Bid, a Firm Bid and a Completed Trade
  7. One Bushel of Corn Described by Four Different Figures
  8. The Three Numbers Held Apart as a Starting Discipline
  9. A Quotation Mistake That Reaches the Settlement Sheet
  10. Reading a Bid Sheet Against Acting on What It Says
M1 The Cash Price at a Named Place Ch 11-22
  1. What a Cash Grain Price Is a Price Of
  2. Cents for a Bushel and Dollars for a Tonne
  3. Quarter Cents, Fractions and the Decimal Place
  4. Delivered In, Free on Truck and Loaded Aboard
  5. The Delivery Window a Cash Bid Applies To
  6. Old Crop and New Crop on One Sheet
  7. How Long a Quoted Bid Stays Good
  8. The Quantity a Bid Is Good For
  9. The Grade Reference Printed on a Cash Bid
  10. The Discount Schedule Printed Beside the Bid
  11. An Offer Sheet Written From the Seller's Side
  12. Two Cash Bids at One Station, Two Delivery Windows
M2 The Futures Contract as a Quoted Reference Ch 23-34
  1. What a Listed Grain Futures Contract Is
  2. The Grain Contracts and the Exchanges Listing Them
  3. Where the Quotation Unit and Price Increment Are Published
  4. Why the Quoted Unit and the Contract Size Are Different Facts
  5. The Listed Delivery Months and the Letter That Names Each
  6. Nearby, Deferred and the Month a Desk Calls the Front
  7. Which Exchange Figure a Grain Bid Is Struck Against
  8. Reading a Grain Futures Price Page Row by Row
  9. One Price Move Read in Cents and in Dollars a Tonne
  10. What the Deliverable Standard Behind a Contract Describes
  11. Daily Price Limits and Halts as Published Rules
  12. Why the Board Price Is Not Your Grain's Price
M3 Basis Defined as a Subtraction Ch 35-47
  1. Cash Minus Futures, Always in That Order
  2. The Three Parts of Any Basis Quotation
  3. A Basis Over the Board and a Basis Under It
  4. Rearranging the Identity to Build a Flat Price
  5. Recovering a Basis From a Flat Price
  6. The Same Basis in Cents and in Dollars a Tonne
  7. Naming the Futures Month a Basis Hangs From
  8. Why Restating a Bid Onto Another Month Moves the Basis
  9. A Negative Basis and a Positive Basis Are Both Ordinary
  10. A Reversed Sign Worked Twice on One Corn Load
  11. A Bid Equal to the Board and a Basis of Zero
  12. A Crop With No Contract of Its Own
  13. The Argument Over Which Month a Basis Should Reference
M4 The Direction Words and the Subtraction Beneath Them Ch 48-58
  1. Strong and Weak Said of a Grain Basis
  2. Improving and Deteriorating Depend on the Seat
  3. Widening and Narrowing Against a Negative Number
  4. Firm, Soft and the Rest of the Elevator's Talk
  5. Premium and Discount Said of a Grain Bid
  6. One Basis Sentence Read From Two Seats
  7. Writing a Basis So It Cannot Be Read Backwards
  8. A Confirmation Written Over When Both Meant Under
  9. The Direction Reading Run Over a Morning's Quotations
  10. Turning a Market Comment Into the Subtraction It Claims
  11. Reading a Basis Change Without Pricing It
M5 Published Grain Price Information Ch 59-69
  1. What a Published Cash Grain Price Is For
  2. The United States Department of Agriculture Grain Market Reports
  3. River and Terminal Quotations Published as a Basis
  4. Export Offers Quoted in Dollars for a Tonne
  5. European Quotations Against a Euro Denominated Contract
  6. Price Reporting Services and Trade Press Grain Quotations
  7. Which Published Grain Number Answers Which Question
  8. Why Two Services Print Different Numbers for One Elevator
  9. An Averaged Cash Index as a Quoted Reference
  10. A Published Figure Nobody Should Name in a Grain Contract
  11. The Time Stamp on a Quotation and the Staleness After It
M6 Reading One Bid Sheet Line Ch 70-81
  1. The Fields One Grain Bid Line Must Carry
  2. The Station Column and Where a Bid Belongs
  3. The Delivery Window Column and the Futures Month Column
  4. The Shorthand a Grain Bid Sheet Uses
  5. A Line Showing a Flat Price and No Basis
  6. A Line Quoting a Basis With the Board Left Open
  7. A Missing Field and the Assumption That Fills It
  8. A Sheet Where Each Window Names a Different Month
  9. A Processor's Bid Sheet Beside an Elevator's
  10. An Export Terminal Sheet and Its Own Conventions
  11. Restating Two Grain Bids Onto One Reading Basis
  12. The Morning Sheet Read in the Right Order
M7 From a Quoted Price to a Money Amount Ch 82-92
  1. Which Quantity a Grain Price Is Applied To
  2. Striking an Amount Due From a Cash Bid
  3. One Load Priced Per Bushel and Per Tonne
  4. Applying the Discount Schedule to the Amount
  5. Building the Same Amount From the Board and the Basis
  6. Where Rounding Belongs in a Grain Price Calculation
  7. A Provisional Amount and the Final Settlement Figure
  8. Reading a Grain Settlement Statement Backwards
  9. An Amount Struck Against the Wrong Futures Month
  10. Reproducing a Counterparty's Figure Before Agreeing It
  11. A Price Build Laid Out for an Auditor
M8 The Checks That Catch a Wrong Grain Number Ch 93-102
  1. The Implausible Grain Number Test
  2. Recovering the Implied Basis as a Credibility Check
  3. Checking a Bid Against a Published Report
  4. A Decimal One Place Out on a Unit Train
  5. A Tonne Figure Keyed as a Bushel Figure
  6. A Fraction Transcribed as a Decimal
  7. The Stale Settlement Behind a Fresh Bid
  8. A Month Code Keyed One Letter Wrong
  9. Estimating a Grain Price Before Accepting It
  10. The One Page a Grain Buyer Keeps Beside the Sheet
M9 Three Numbers Read Together, and the Limits of Reading Ch 103-113
  1. A River Elevator Corn Bid, Part One: The Line
  2. A River Elevator Corn Bid, Part Two: The Amount
  3. A River Elevator Corn Bid, Part Three: The Seller Disagrees
  4. A Soybean Bid and a Meal Bid on One Denominator
  5. A Wheat Bid Naming a Class and a Protein Reference
  6. An Export Offer and an Inland Bid on One Sheet
  7. A Harvest Morning When the Board Moved and the Bid Did Not
  8. Conventions That Change Underneath a Saved Spreadsheet
  9. What a Basis Number Does Not Tell You
  10. The Questions a Careful Grain Buyer Asks First
  11. The Three Numbers Every Later Grain Course Assumes

The brochure gives each of these 113 chapters a paragraph on what it covers and what you can do once you have worked through it.

This is course 4 of twenty

It stands alone, and it is also the entry point to the Agricultural Commodities Desk Academy pathway.

Enrol or enquire See the whole pathway