GENERAL COMMENTS:
Both the live cattle and feeder cattle markets are trading lower into Friday's afternoon, but the lean hog complex has finally found support and is trading higher. A little more cash cattle trade could develop, but it's looking like this week's business is almost done with. May corn is up 1 1/4 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is down $4.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 140.66 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
With the cash cattle market only seeing a little more trade in the South at steady prices with Thursday's movement, traders have opted to allow the live cattle contracts to continue to drift lower. Given that cash cattle prices had traded higher for five-straight consecutive weeks, seeing a week of steady trade isn't problematic. So long as feedlots can continue to manage their showlists and remain incredibly current, they'll continue to possess the lion's share of the markets leverage. A few more cattle have traded in Kansas at $165, which is steady with Thursday's trade and steady with last week's weighted average. A few bids have been renewed at $165 in Nebraska, but thus far no more cattle have traded in the North. Asking prices in the South remain firm at $167-plus and at $267-plus in the North. A little bit more movement could develop ahead of the week's end.
Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $1.31 ($285.91) and select down $3.58 ($272.47) with a movement of 59 loads (35.47 loads of choice, 4.36 loads of select, 9.04 loads of trim and 10.23 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
With corn prices trading higher and the live cattle contracts retreating yet again Friday, the feeder cattle contracts have little option but to trade lower. While the contracts are trading for more than a $1.00 lower, this type of pull back after the aggressive rally posted earlier this week isn't unusual or never wrecking. The feeder cattle complex continues to see immense demand for both feeders and calves as they're in short supply, so while the complex may be chopping sideways to trading mildly lower, it's unlikely that too much more ground is given up. March feeders are down $1.17 at $191.90, April feeders are down $1.22 at $197.92 and May feeders are down $1.60 at $203.87.
LEAN HOGS:
It may be late in the week, but the lean hog complex has finally found some technical support. It's somewhat surprising that the contracts are trading higher as feed prices are still high and pressuring hog producers' margins, and as we enter the noon hour, corn prices are trading higher too. Nonetheless, the nearby lean hog contracts especially are trading higher with gains mostly over $1.00. April lean hogs are up $1.30 at $86.40, June lean hogs are up $1.07 at $101.52 and July lean hogs are up $103.82.
The projected lean hog index for March 9 is up $0.23 at $79.62, and the actual index for March 8 is up $0.10 at $79.39. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.44 with a weighted average of $77.83, ranging from $75.00 to $79.00 on 4,280 head and a five-day rolling average of $78.10. Pork cutouts total 165.88 loads with 153.92 loads of pork cuts and 11.96 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.50, $87.89.
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