GENERAL COMMENTS:
A sluggish and uneventful tone is being seen in the livestock complex and has all of the livestock markets trading lower into Tuesday's afternoon. Largely, it appears as though traders are looking for strong fundamental support before they'll advance the contracts anymore after last week's vigorous pace in the live cattle and feeder cattle markets. May corn is down 6 1/2 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is down $8.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 297.54 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle market is seeming to sit on its hands, waiting to see what happens in this week's cash cattle trade before traders do much in the futures complex. As of right now, the market is merely trading sideways to somewhat lower as traders long for direction. The cash cattle market won't likely see any substantial trade develop until Thursday or Friday of this week as feedlots are once again gunning for higher prices. Boxed beef prices continue to grind higher, which should incentivize packers to run steady kill schedules and stay active in procuring cattle for the weeks ahead. April live cattle are down $0.15 at $167.97, June live cattle are down $0.52 at $160.70 and August live cattle are down $0.45 at $160.32. Asking prices in the South are noted at $170, but no early asking prices have been established thus far in the North.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $3.60 ($288.69) and select up $3.70 ($277.88) with a movement of 55 loads (37.04 loads of choice, 12.24 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 5.39 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
It's surprising to see the feeder cattle contracts trading lower as the market is currently seeing corn prices fall anywhere from $0.06 to $0.09 in the nearby contracts. But as the livestock complex nears the noon hour, there's an underlying tone of caution and uncertainty plaguing the marketplace, which seems to have all the livestock contracts hesitant. Cash cattle prices are expected to be higher again this week, which should encourage positive momentum throughout the feeder cattle complex. April feeders are down $0.12 at $198.82, May feeders are up $0.07 at $203.27 and August feeders are down $0.47 at $220.22.
LEAN HOGS:
With lackluster tones dominating the livestock complex ahead of Tuesday's noon hour, the lean hog market is once again pressured to trade lower. April lean hogs are down $0.92 at $73.60, June lean hogs are down $0.15 at $91.30 and July lean hogs are down $0.35 at $93.97. Pork cutout values did close higher Monday afternoon, which is always a welcomed sight to the hog market, but in order for the lean hog contracts to break out of this lethargic sideways to somewhat lower grind, traders are going to need to see bolder support fundamentally.
The projected lean hog index for April 3 is down $0.52 at $74.67, and the actual index for March 31 is down $0.27 at $75.19. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.65 with a weighted average of $72.01, ranging from $68.00 to $73.00 on 6,126 head and a five-day rolling average of $73.50. Pork cutouts total 185.85 loads with 179.52 loads of pork cuts and 6.33 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.57, $77.75.
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