After a brutal Monday, futures have been clawing back gains the past few days. Trading on Thursday was helped along by a U.S. Q4 2022 GDP number that pleased outside markets. Consumer spending underpinned a 2.9 percent increase in GDP, though there remain warnings of another shoe to drop. That angst will wait for another day.

One of the more fun developments of the day was word of a USDA official questioning the size of the Russian wheat crop while at a conference in Europe. Basically, if you believe the Russians are fighting Nazis then you probably believe their 100 MMT wheat production number. If Moscow brags that its Soviet-era tanks will destroy the West’s modern Leopard and Abrams tanks, are their grain numbers to be believed?...