GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock contracts are trading mostly lower into Tuesday's noon hour as the market patiently waits to see what Wednesday's WASDE report shares. After such an aggressive push throughout Monday's trade, it's not surprising to see the cattle contracts trading steady to somewhat lower. May corn is down 1 cent per bushel and May soybean meal is down $2.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 403.93 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
After closing at yet another new contract high Monday afternoon in the spot April contract, most of the live cattle contracts are taking a more cautious approach to Tuesday's market. Without seeing any cash cattle trade and with boxed beef prices trading mixed, traders are hesitant to do much of anything until a clearer fundamental outlook is known for this week. April live cattle are down $0.37 at $165.72, June live cattle are down $0.60 at $160.40 and August live cattle are down $0.40 at $160.07. There are no cash cattle bids currently being offered but asking prices in the South are noted at $166-plus. Trade will likely be delayed until Thursday or Friday.
Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $0.56 ($289.64) and select up $0.03 ($276.50) with a movement of 54 loads (37.46 loads of choice, 10.04 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 6.69 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
After scaling aggressively to new contract highs, the feeder cattle complex is trading mostly lower into Tuesday's afternoon as traders seem to be pressing the pause button on the feeder cattle market's rally. March feeders are up $0.02 at $192.10, April feeders are down $0.25 at $198.35 and May feeders are up $0.17 at $203.42. Once the market sees some cash cattle trade or continues to see corn prices drift lower throughout the week, it may again choose to trade lower, but for the time being, traders believe holding the market steady is wisest.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex is again trading lower as the market can't seem to find the support it needs in order to safely justify trading higher. There's a possibility that Wednesday's WASDE report could lend some support if the report finds demand to be stronger in the second quarter than originally thought, but then again, the report could find that the opposite is true. April lean hogs are up $0.40 at $83.97, June lean hogs are down $0.87 at $99.75 and July lean hogs are down $0.87 at $102.10.
The projected lean hog index for March 6 is up $0.18 at $79.09 and the actual index for March 3 is up $0.20 at $78.91. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.51 with a weighted average of $77.36, ranging from $71.00 to $79.00 on 3,910 head and a five-day rolling average of $78.16. Pork cutouts total 182.73 loads with 165.08 loads of pork cuts and 17.65 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.41, $87.74.
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