By Andrew Johnson Jr
 
   Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
 
 
   CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures stumbled lower
 Friday, back filling prior gains on end-of-week position squaring and bearish
 new crop acreage outlooks.
 
   CBOT March soybeans settled 16 1/2 cents lower at $8.82 1/2, and May soybeans
 ended 5 1/2 cents lower at $8.76 1/2. November soybeans settled 17 3/4 cents
 lower at $8.23 3/4. In pit trades, speculative fund selling was estimated at
 3,000 lots.
 
   May soymeal settled $0.20 higher at $276.70 per short ton. May soyoil
 finished 21 points lower at 30.17 cents per pound. The general sense of
 economic uncertainty coupled with overbought conditions following recent gains
 encouraged traders to book some profits in an effort to reduce risk exposure
 heading into the weekend, analysts said.
 
   The market is teetering on the movements of outside markets, and traders are
 taking a cautious approach with economic jitters flowing, a CBOT floor analyst
 said.
 
   The absence of the supportive push from outside equity and crude oil markets
 limited buyer interest as well, with bearishly perceived 2009 acreage forecasts
 adding weight to pin prices in negative territory.
 
   Old/new crop spreading and corn/soybean spreading was featured also,
 reflective of private acreage estimates pointing to higher new crop soybean
 acres. Otherwise, activity was subdued with traders taking a wait and see
 approach in the absence of fresh demand news.
 
   Private analytical firm Informa Economics on Friday pegged 2009 soybean
 plantings at 81.5 million acres, according to traders. In January, Informa
 estimated 2009 U.S. soybean plantings at 80.8 million acres and corn acres at
 82.7 million, according to traders. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will
 release its prospective plantings report March 31 at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
 
   The National Oilseed Processors Association is expected to estimate February
 soybean crush at 126.2 million bushels, down from last month on sluggish
 domestic meal demand, according to a survey of industry analysts. NOPA soyoil
 stocks in February are expected to increase by 158 million pounds to 2.551
 billion pounds from the 2.393 billion reported in January. NOPA is expected to
 release its figures Monday at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT).
 
   Argentina's 2007-08 soybean production will total just 40 million to 42
 million metric tons, a 9% to 12% drop on the year, according to the Argentine
 Association of Agricultural Research Consortiums, or CREA. The CREA report adds
 to the chorus of private forecasts predicting a sharp drop in production due to
 a brutal drought early this year and late in 2008.
 
 SOY PRODUCTS
 
 
   Soy product futures ended mostly lower, moving in unison with soybeans. The
 markets backpedaled off recent gains, but soymeal still managed to gain product
 share on spreads. End-of-week positioning and outlooks for sluggish domestic
 demand for both meal and oil aided the markets weaknesses, traders said.
 
   In pit trades, speculative fund selling was estimated at 1,000 lots in both
 soyoil and soymeal.
 
   May oil share ended at 35.28%. The May crush ended at 64 cents.