It is difficult to sit in the chair today, with December futures trading at 75-76 cents. I have procrastinated as long as I can in trying to get the market above 80 cents. I again suggest growers seek protection on any movement above the 79-80 cent level.

The cotton market trudged through the week, looking for even a sliver of the bullish momentum it had enjoyed the prior two-plus months. Yet it finds itself stuck in the high 70s and unable to break above the 80-cent barrier, which has now become a rather stiff price resistance level. The only fundamental of consequence at work in the market is Mother Nature.

It’s hard to believe now, but “Cotton Is the Enemy” has actually been gone for longer than it existed. Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank founded the brand in 1996, and immediately implemented the marketing campaign, which he hoped would promote his synthetic line of athletic apparel.

Even the low 80’s proved to be too much for Icarus’s melted wings to power through the market this week as both the old crop July and new crop December succumbed to last week’s flight to 88 cents last week.

Cotton continues establishing new price highs again and again. That was last week’s first sentence, and it still applies. After posting a minor selloff at mid-week, prices charged higher at week’s end as both the old crop July futures contract and the new crop December contract settled the week near the weekly highs, and near the life of contract high for the December contract.

Cotton continues to establish new price highs again and again. The 85-cent objective has been hit, for all practical purposes. The old crop spot month July settled the week at 84.19 after reaching a weekly high of 84.27. Not to be outdone, the new crop December futures contract climbed the ladder to 84.61 and settled at 84.56.

Cotton prices (Dec futures), range-bound between 66-67 and 70 cents for a long time, have broken that barrier and now stand at over 80 cents. Price has improved roughly 12 ½ cents (or 18%) over the past seven to eight weeks or so.