GENERAL COMMENTS:
End-of-week positioning appears to be the main driver Friday morning with moderate-to-strong gains seen in all livestock futures. Live cattle trade is leading with December contracts setting the pace with gains over $3 per cwt. Feeder cattle futures have regained previous day losses, as the overall tone of the market still remains unsettled but showing positive signs at the end of the week. The ability to hold current gains in lean hog futures is also likely to create momentum through the end of the month, although the market still remains well below last week's price levels but continues to bounce off recent contract lows. December corn is up 1 1/2 at $4.808 and December soybean meal is up $17.50 at $447. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 143.07 at 32,641.23.
LIVE CATTLE :
Active morning buying has flooded the live cattle complex with triple-digit gains across the entire complex. December contracts are leading with gains over $3.50 per cwt at midday. The lack of solid buyer support over the week has sparked some late-week positioning, which left the market ripe for a rally following the oversold status. Given the wide market swings and downward pressure following last week's report, the technicals have shown signs of improvement; but until Friday morning there has not been enough strong interest to make a significant change in market prices. Beef market fundamentals still remain unsettled, but the ability to move prices from recent lows through the end of October will go a long way to bring additional interest back into nearby and deferred contract months. Cash cattle trade is starting to see light Friday trade in the South at $185 per cwt. This is even with last week, The sharp rally in live cattle futures during the morning has helped solidify cash markets. It is uncertain just how much additional trade will be seen in the North, but the higher bids available may help to move cattle still on showlists before the end of the day. Asking prices on cattle still left to sell are reported at $185 and higher in the South and $292 and higher in the North. October live cattle are $2.60 higher at $184.3, December live cattle are $3.65 higher at $182.975, February live cattle are $3.20 higher at $183.60.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.27 ($308.12) and select up $0.44 ($280.13) with a movement of 97.00 loads (52.15 loads of choice, 28.59 loads of select, 8.33 loads of trim and 8.24 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
Firm gains in feeder cattle futures are supported by the morning rally developing across live cattle trade. But trade volume still remains moderate at best with nearby contracts able to etch out gains of $1 per cwt and higher, with light to moderate gains in deferred contract months. The pullback in price levels Thursday has created some uncertainty about active short-term support being able to regain the losses seen over the last two weeks. Even with the end of the week bounce higher, based on weekly charts, markets remain at four-month lows. The ability to keep feed prices within a stable range and regain support in beef values is likely to help rekindle moderate buyer support in the upcoming weeks, but traders remain cautious concerning the number of calves left to place into feedlots through the end of the year. November feeders are $0.63 higher at $237.125, January feeders are $0.53 higher at $235.6 and March feeders are $0.40 higher at $238.15.
LEAN HOGS:
Spot-month December lean hog futures are holding firm gains of $1.25 per cwt higher, with price levels nearing the $70 per cwt threshold for the first time in two weeks. The lean hog futures complex is now on a three-day winning streak with prices moving nearly $4 per cwt higher since establishing contract lows early in the week. The potential to spark additional technical buyer support through the end October is not only likely to bring more support to the futures trade, but also spark additional interest in cash hog and pork value price levels heading into the month of November. December lean hogs are $1.28 higher at $69.9, February lean hogs are $1.25 higher at $73.075 and April lean hogs are $0.90 higher at $78.55.
Hog prices are unreported at this time due to packer submission issues. Pork cutouts totaled 180.68 loads with 154.82 loads of pork cuts and 25.86 loads of trim. Pork cutout values are down $3.34 at $85.21.
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