GENERAL COMMENTS:
Prices scaled lower throughout Monday's trade, as traders were incredibly quiet and none of the contracts could rally support even if they wanted to. Live cattle contracts fared the best throughout the day, and thankfully the feeder cattle that traded through Monday weren't affected by the board's lower tone. Hog prices were higher on the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $0.13 with a weighted average of $31.66 on 8,289 head. December corn is down 4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is up $2.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 8.92 points and NASDAQ is up 263.90 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex closed modestly lower compared to the rest of the livestock contracts -- only enduring a $1.00 loss as its biggest deficit for Monday. August live cattle closed $1.00 lower at $102.27, October live cattle closed $0.50 lower at $106.37 and December live cattle closed $0.25 lower at $110.45. Cash cattle trade was mostly quiet Monday even though packers started inquiring on cattle early Monday morning. There was just a handful of cattle that traded in Nebraska for $157 dressed -- steady with last week's trade. Asking prices are still hard to come by for dressed cattle but the industry seems to be leaning towards pricing live cattle at $100 or better this week. Monday's slaughter is estimated at 117,000 head, up 2,000 head from a week ago and up 2,000 head from a year ago.
Last week's cash prices ranged from steady to $1.00 stronger, and although one would think that $1.00 stronger would be a good strengthening point for the marketplace, the fact that packers bought fewer cattle and that prices didn't gain much ground actually took some steam out of live cattle trade.
Boxed beef prices closed higher: choice up $1.27 (201.74) and select up $1.28 ($191.59) with a movement of 110 loads (70.42 loads of choice, 19.88 loads of select, 6.89 loads of trim and 12.60 loads of ground beef).
TUESDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady. It's tough telling where prices will fall without a good feel on asking prices, but steady to slightly lower could be a fair prediction as heat continues to stress cattle and the board closes red.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Monday closed in a disappointing fashion for the feeder cattle contracts as last week's momentum was superb. Closing anywhere from $0.32 to $2.30 lower, the market lacked fundamental support and traders weren't interested in bolstering the market higher this early in the week. Even though the board closed lower, the momentum throughout the countryside doesn't seem to be affected as feeder cattle prices were well tested and calf buyers don't seem overly cautious heading into Tuesday. At Joplin Regional Stockyards in Carthage, Missouri, compared to a week ago, steer and heifer calves as well as yearlings all sold $2.00 to $5.00 stronger. The CME feeder cattle index 7/17/2020: down $0.30, $136.31.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex tumbled lower in the spot August contract while the rest of the contracts closed lower, but not with losses near $2.50 lower. Feeling pressure from a lack of support and a sharp drop in cutout prices, the complex had no other option but to close lower Monday afternoon. August lean hogs close $2.40 lower at $50.40, October lean hogs closed $1.87 lower at $49.20 and December lean hogs closed $1.07 lower at $51.20.
Pork cutouts totaled 321.88 loads with 297.60 loads of pork cuts and 24.28 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $2.75, $68.44. Monday's slaughter is estimated at 477,000 head, up 29,000 head from a week ago and up 6,000 head from a year ago. The CME lean hog index 7/16/2020: up $0.06, $47.55.
TUESDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Steady. The market was able to pull a little bit more money out of packers Monday afternoon and could see the market hold or jump slightly higher as packers keep a rigorous kill schedule. Last week's estimated kill shared that, even though last week's slaughter was slightly less than the previous week's, it was still 10% higher than a year ago at 2,518,000 head.
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