Early Thursday morning both live cattle and feeder cattle contracts started to trade higher but as the noon hour approaches, the entire livestock sector has taken a step back and is letting contracts trade lower. March corn is down 1/4 cent per bushel and March soybean meal is down $2.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 179.64 points and NASDAQ is up 54.03 points.
LIVE CATTLE
The live cattle market approaches the noon hour undecided. Undecided if higher prices in the future's contracts are where the market needs to trade, and undetermined in the cash cattle market as of now. The market welcomes the noon hour split -- nearby contracts are mostly lower while deferred contracts are barely higher than steady. February live cattle are steady at $126.35, April live cattle are down $0.15 at $126.90 and June live cattle are down $0.15 at $119.05.
The countryside has bids offered at $122 live, or $198 to $199 dressed throughout most feeding states, but feeders have yet to accept as bids are much lower than their initial asking prices. Time seems to serve as the best ingredient, and feeders will most likely wait until sometime Friday to give packers the incentive to up their annie.
Boxed beef prices are up: choice up $0.50 ($210.00) and select up $0.38 ($206.91) with a movement of 85 loads (54.93 loads of choice, 10.00 loads of select, 6.39 loads of trim and 13.79 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE
Feeder cattle contracts have been hot and cold Thursday morning. Trading higher earlier in the day, and now trading lower, feeder cattle contracts are trading $0.17 to $0.47 lower. January feeders are down $0.37 at $146.45, March feeders are down $0.42 at $146.10 and April feeders are down $0.20 at $148.82. Given the significant market move made last Friday, the market has yet to decide if higher or lower ground should be sought. On the bright side, the market has been able to hold on the upper side of Friday's movement, keeping prices above $145.50 for the week.
LEAN HOGS
Thursday comes as another tough day for lean hog contracts. The entire complex is trading anywhere from $1.12 lower to $2.37, and cash prices are weakening as well. February lean hogs are down $2.37 at $66.65, April lean hogs are down $1.72 at $74.02 and May lean hogs are down $1.60 at $80.42. Inside details about the phase one trade agreement have yet to be shared, which hopefully will boost the market come next Wednesday.
The projected lean hog index for 1/8/20 is up $0.22 at $59.56, and the actual for 1/7/20 came to $59.34, up $0.18. Hog prices are lower on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.37 with a weighted average of $50.58, ranging from $45.00 to $52.00 on 7,105 head and a five-day rolling average of $50.36. Pork cutouts totaled 153.82 loads with 140.58 loads of pork cuts and 13.24 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.13, $72.61.
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