GENERAL COMMENTS:
Wednesday ended up being a strong day for the hog complex as better packer interest in the cash market helped rally the futures complex. But unfortunately, the cattle complex had a mostly lackadaisical day without much happening as the cash cattle market has yet to trade. December corn is down 5 1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $2.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 99.46 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Wednesday didn't end up being much of a day at all for the live cattle complex as traders merely left the contracts drift lower through the day's end and no cash cattle sales were noted. August live cattle closed $0.57 lower at $187.12, October live cattle closed $0.77 lower at $186.67 and December live cattle closed $0.30 lower at $187.87. And between seeing mixed signals from the boxed beef complex, and still no clear direction as to how this week's cash cattle market is going to shake out -- another day of a slightly lower close was an easy option for traders. Asking prices in the South are noted at $190 to $192 but are still not established yet in the North.
Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 122,000 head -- steady with a week ago and 1,000 head less than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed mixed: choice up $0.29 ($314.77) and select down $1.22 ($300.16) with a movement of 145 loads (94.06 loads of choice, 27.49 loads of select, 9.27 loads of trim and 13.86 loads of ground beef).
THURSDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady. Feedlots are aiming for at least steady money this week following last week's $2.00 advancement, but it's anyone's guess at this point on who's going to win the cash cattle market's battle – packers or feedlot managers?
FEEDER CATTLE:
It was surprising to see some of the feeder cattle contracts turn higher after the noon hour as the live cattle market kept with its lower trend all the way through the day's end. Even so, traders acknowledged the corn markets descend and between the slight decrease in corn prices and the continued support of buyers in the countryside -- traders opted to push the nearby contracts higher through the day's close even without the support of the live cattle market. August feeders closed $0.27 higher at $257.25, September feeders closed $0.15 higher at $257.10 and October feeders closed $0.27 higher at $256.15. The CME feeder cattle index 7/30/2024: down $0.04, $258.69.
LEAN HOGS:
With the help of a little extra fundamental support from the cash hog complex, the lean hog contracts were able to round out Wednesday's trade higher. August lean hogs closed $1.07 higher a $92.27, October lean hogs closed $1.15 higher at $75.92 and December lean hogs closed $1.10 higher at $68.72. Unfortunately, with the ham's $6.55 decline, the afternoon carcass price was no help as it rounded out the afternoon slightly lower. Hog prices closed higher on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $1.08 with a weighted average price of $85.76 on 12,411 head. Pork cutouts total 261.71 loads with 213.88 loads of pork cuts and 47.83 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.72, $104.88. Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 481,000 head -- 2,000 head more than a week ago and 7,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 7/29/2024: up $0.30, $92.59.
THURSDAY'S HOG CALL: Lower. With packers buying over 12,000 head in today's cash market they've likely fulfilled their needs for the week and will likely be far less aggressive through the week's end in the cash market.
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