Cattle feeders woke up to a Christmas surprise indeed. Having the board push higher in both cattle contracts seems to be cinching up the deal that cash cattle will trade higher. March corn is up 1/2 cent per bushel and March soybean meal is down $2.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 47.74 points and NASDAQ is up 40.88 points.
LIVE CATTLE
After a day's break, cattle contracts are rested and ready to get back to business. December live cattle are up $0.35 at $123.00, February live cattle are up $0.72 at $126.55 and April live cattle are up $0.62 at $127.42. With the December contract nearing expiration (12/31/19) little interest remains in this month's contract as February and April take the most of the market's interest. As cattle contracts trade notably higher, cash cattle trade sits idle. Packers have gingerly tested the waters and laid a couple of lower bids on the table, but feeders are anxious for the new, knowing that prices will soon be on the rise. In the meantime, they are kicked back and waiting for a later Friday with higher prices. A light run of cattle sold for $120.17 in Iowa late Tuesday night, but it's not enough to call the market trading yet.
Midday boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $1.25 ($210.32) and select up $0.72 ($205.36) with a movement of 143 loads (95.90 loads of choice, 16.02 loads of select, 7.96 loads of trim and 23.03 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE
Feeder cattle contracts are steaming into the noon hour well over $1.00 higher in most contracts. January feeder cattle are up $1.55 at $145.12, March feeders are up $1.25 at $144.92 and April feeders are up $1.17 at $147.17.
LEAN HOGS
The lean hog complex came out, opening semi-strong with cattle contracts but has since stepped back to trading mostly sideways. Nearby contracts are slightly higher while deferred contracts are slightly lower. February lean hogs are down $0.02 at $70.67, April lean hogs are up $0.15 at $78.15 and May lean hogs are up $0.10 at $84.60.
The projected lean hog index for 12/24/19 is unchanged at $59.12, and the actual for 12/20/19 came in at $59.12, down $0.78. Due to packer submission problems, the National Direct Morning Hog Report is not available at this time. Pork cutouts total 344.21 loads with 319.71 loads of pork cuts and 24.50 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $1.44 at $78.27.
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