A news failure happens when price refuses to behave the way it "should" after a headline. If bad news comes out and a stock, commodity, or currency doesn't go down — or even rallies — that's a sign sellers may be exhausted. If great news hits and price can't go up, that's often a sign buyers are already fully committed.
In simple terms, news failures reveal when expectations are already priced in and the market is quietly turning. Instead of reacting to the headline, we focus on the reaction to the headline — because turning points often begin when price stops responding to news the way the crowd expects.
How prices moved after each detected News Failure from the WASDE report.
Summary: 6 out of 10 wins — total P/L: +33.9%**
**Note: Position is being opened on the date of the News Failure at the closing price. The position is being closed after 6 months. The +6 Months column uses current price (Mar 4, 2026) as proxy. True 6-month dates haven’t been reached yet — elapsed time ranges from 1.7 months (Jan signals) to 5.7 months (Sep signals). Sep 12 signals are 8 days from their exact 6-month mark.
| Date | Commodity | Signal | Closing Price on NF Day | +1 Week | +2 Weeks | +3 Weeks | +1 Month | +6 Months | Trade P/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 12, 2026 | Soybean Meal | Bearish NF | $294.60 | 291.60 (−1.0%) | 294.30 (−0.1%) | 294.50 (0.0%) | 303.00 (+2.9%) | 309.40 (+5.0%) | −5.0% |
| Jan 12, 2026 | Soybean Oil | Bullish NF | $49.82 | 52.56 (+5.5%) | 53.89 (+8.2%) | 53.20 (+6.8%) | 57.05 (+14.5%) | 63.47 (+27.4%) | +27.4% |
| Dec 9, 2025 | Cotton | Bullish NF | $63.86 | 63.10 (−1.2%) | 64.01 (+0.2%) | 64.32 (+0.7%) | 64.46 (+0.9%) | 64.16 (+0.5%) | +0.5% |
| Dec 9, 2025 | Live Cattle | Bearish NF | $226.83 | 231.15 (+1.9%) | 228.83 (+0.9%) | 231.18 (+1.9%) | 235.28 (+3.7%) | 238.53 (+5.2%) | −5.2% |
| Dec 9, 2025 | Feeder Cattle | Bearish NF | $335.50 | 343.33 (+2.3%) | 344.63 (+2.7%) | 349.55 (+4.2%) | 362.48 (+8.0%) | 360.85 (+7.6%) | −7.6% |
| Nov 10, 2025 | Cotton | Bullish NF | $64.31 | 62.36 (−3.0%) | 61.44 (−4.5%) | 62.83 (−2.3%) | 64.12 (−0.3%) | 64.16 (−0.2%) | −0.2% |
| Nov 10, 2025 | Wheat | Bullish NF | $535.75 | 544.25 (+1.6%) | 522.25 (−2.5%) | 530.25 (−1.0%) | 531.25 (−0.8%) | 567.75 (+6.0%) | +6.0% |
| Nov 10, 2025 | Corn | Bullish NF | $429.75 | 434.75 (+1.2%) | 423.75 (−1.4%) | 432.75 (+0.7%) | 434.75 (+1.2%) | 443.75 (+3.3%) | +3.3% |
| Sep 12, 2025 | Cotton | Bearish NF | $65.19 | 64.94 (−0.4%) | 63.95 (−1.9%) | 62.86 (−3.6%) | 63.59 (−2.5%) | 64.16 (−1.6%) | +1.6% |
| Sep 12, 2025 | Sugar | Bearish NF | $15.79 | 15.46 (−2.1%) | 15.87 (+0.5%) | 16.47 (+4.3%) | 15.61 (−1.1%) | 13.71 (−13.2%) | +13.2% |
The greatest traders in history have recognized the power of news failures.
"When the news is wonderful and a market can't go up, then you want to be sure to be short."
"Bad news was starting to lose its impact on the market — bearish news stories would come out, and stocks would essentially lie flat."
"But if they are all super bearish, and some really negative news came out that day, but the market closes higher, I'm buying."
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