GENERAL COMMENTS:
It was a rather uneventful day for the livestock sector, with no crazy gains but also no substantial losses. It will probably be later in the week when cash cattle start to trade that lean hogs could trade lower if they take the back burner. Live cattle contracts could heat up if cash prices take off. Hog prices are higher on the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $0.62 with a weighted average of $47.68. March corn is up 1 1/4 cents per bushel, and January soybean meal is up $0.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 27.88 points, and the NASDAQ is down 5.65 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Live cattle contracts continue to be mostly unchanged, with nearby contracts trading lower and deferred contracts higher. December live cattle are down $0.30 at $119.87, February live cattle are down $0.17 at $124.57 and April live cattle are down $0.35 at $125.05. Asking prices and even a few bids started to circulate throughout the countryside later Tuesday afternoon. Texas has set asking prices at $121 to $122, and fats in Texas were bid Tuesday at $118.
Closing boxed beef prices were lower: choice down $2.15 ($221.49) and select down $1.14 ($205.35) with a big movement of 208 loads (143.90 loads of choice, 27.64 loads of select, 13.07 loads of trim and 23.86 loads of ground beef). Tuesday's slaughter is estimated at 122,000 head -- 2,000 head more than a week ago and 1,000 head more than a year ago.
WEDNESDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady to $1.00 higher. It appears that the market is waiting patiently to see how Wednesday's Fed Cattle Exchange performs. Some feeders have set high asking prices again this week mostly steady with last week's asking prices. Given that this week's slaughter is expected to be big again, it wouldn't be outrageous to think that prices could easily be in the low $120s.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Feeder cattle contracts had a relatively good day -- closing mostly higher except in a couple deferred contracts. January feeders closed $0.12 higher at $141.65, March feeders closed $0.25 higher at $142.52 and April feeders closed $0.32 higher at $144.47. Monday at Joplin Regional Stockyards in Carthage, Missouri, 11,973 head sold compared to the previous week, with steers, heifers and yearlings all sold steady. Demand was moderate to good, and supply was heavy -- mostly due to the shortened week prior and ranchers able to finally get calves into the sale barn with good weather conditions. The CME feeder cattle index 12/9/19: $143.35, up $0.02.
LEAN HOGS:
Lean hog contracts sit patiently, quietly and calmly ... simply waiting for the market to see its opportunity to break out of the steady trend and trade higher. Contracts were able to close mostly higher -- modestly in the spot market and over $1.00 in other contracts. December lean hogs closed $0.47 higher at $60.47, February lean hogs closed $1.27 higher at $67.97 and April lean hogs closed $1.22 higher at $74.20.
Pork cutouts totaled 386.78 loads with 351.67 loads of pork cuts and 35.11 loads of trim. Pork cutout values are higher: up $1.14 at $83.12. Tuesday's slaughter is estimated at 494,000 head -- 1,000 head less than a week ago and 19,000 head more than a year ago. Monday's slaughter project was revised to 491,000 head. The CME lean hog index 12/6/19: down $0.37 at $58.12.
WEDNESDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Steady to mildly higher. Seeing that cutout values are able to etch higher, packers may be encouraged to keep processing speeds high and process hogs while the money's available.
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