GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is again trading mixed as the live cattle market thrives on its strong fundamental position thanks to feedlots determination in marketing their showlists, but the feeder cattle complex is trading lower as corn prices run higher and the hog complex is battling with continued market uncertainty. December corn is up 19 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is up $8.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 357.96 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The spot October contract is trading at a new contract high yet again as traders continue to see the value of this market's fundamental position. It's good to see the market trading higher early this week because some late-week pressure could arise technically, given that two big USDA reports are set to be released Friday afternoon: the Cattle on Feed report and the midyear Cattle Inventory report. No cash cattle trade has developed at this point, and bids and asking prices are still illusive. August live cattle are up $0.50 at $180.62, October live cattle are up $0.75 at $183.00 and December live cattle are up $0.80 at $186.65. New showlists appear to be mixed, somewhat higher in Nebraska/Colorado, somewhat lower in Kansas, and lower in Texas.
Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $0.60 ($306.18) and select up $0.09 ($275.83) with a movement of 69 loads (35.75 loads of choice, 19.30 loads of select, 5.21 loads of trim and 9.23 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
As the nearby corn contracts run $0.16 to $0.19 higher into Tuesday's noon hour, the feeder cattle contracts are trading mildly lower as they try to gauge the sincerity of Tuesday's corn market surge. If corn prices are just going to fall lower Wednesday, than Tuesday's surge doesn't mean much, but if corn prices are going to build and continue to trade higher, traders may want to rethink how they're going to approach the feeder cattle complex. The biggest reason why corn prices are trotting higher Tuesday morning is because of weather related concerns, as warm and dry weather in the days ahead could affect yields. But, like always, chasing weather markets is risky. August feeders are down $0.25 at $249.00, September feeders are down $0.62 at $250.80 and October feeders are down $0.55 at $251.80.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex still isn't sure of its direction. Supplies are expected to thin in the second half of the year as producers prepare for Prop 12 but from now until that point, pressure in the unknown is likely. August lean hogs are up $2.17 at $96.95, October lean hogs are down $0.35 at $81.97 and December lean hogs are down $0.55 at $75.40. The cash hog market is seeing a little better interest Tuesday morning, but still packers haven't dived into the market wildly as they try to get a better sense of retail pork demand.
The projected lean hog index for July 17 is up $0.92 at $102.52, and the actual index for July 14 is up $0.57 at $101.60. Hog prices average $104.36 on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, ranging from $99.00 to $105.00 on 3,239 head and the five-day rolling average now sits at $101.59. Pork cutouts total 176.27 loads 2ith 158.93 loads of pork cuts and 17.34 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.41, $113.12.
No comments:
Post a Comment