GENERAL COMMENTS:
Tuesday's market was quiet without much having developed following Monday's disarray. The cash cattle market could see a little more interest develop on Wednesday, but at this point no sales have been reported. December corn is down 1 3/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $5.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 294.39 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex may have been able to close mixed, but the moral throughout the market isn't settled as cautiousness and uncertainty linger throughout. As we all know, the futures complex takes its time grinding higher, but when it chooses to turn and trade lower, dollars can be lost in an instant. The question that still remains is whether or not a bottom for this move has been formed? Cattlemen hope so, and trades are keeping their eyes and ears open to the market's external factors to try to decide what the verdict is. Still no cash cattle sales have developed, but asking prices are noted in the South at $188 to $190 but remain unestablished still in the North. August live cattle closed $0.42 higher at $181.97, October live cattle closed $0.05 higher at $179.05 and December live cattle closed $0.20 lower at $178.05.
Tuesday's slaughter is estimated at 122,000 head -- 1,000 head less than a week and year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $2.13 ($315.81) and select down $0.44 ($299.62) with a movement of 181 loads (118.82 loads of choice, 28.69 loads of select, 13.96 loads of trim and 19.80 loads of ground beef).
WEDNESDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Lower. Given that the market has an uneasy feeling about it, it's likely that the cash cattle market will trade lower this week.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Even though the live cattle complex closed mixed, the feeder cattle market hadn't forgotten about the devastating losses endured on Monday to be able to recover somewhat by Tuesday. But thankfully Tuesday's losses weren't nearby as significant as Monday's, as traders merely let the market drift lower as they continue to desperately look for support but are coming up empty handed as external pressures take a long time to resolve themselves. August feeders closed $1.00 lower at $243.00, September feeders closed $0.67 lower at $240.57 and October feeders closed $0.20 lower at $239.02. At Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma compared to last week steers and heifers traded $5.00 to $10.00 lower with instances up to $15.00 lower. With the board's recent weakness, market cautiousness was event and the area's blistering summer heat didn't help matters either. The CME feeder cattle index 8/5/2024: down $1.20, $255.35.
LEAN HOGS:
Even though pork cutout values closed slightly lower, the lean hog complex was able to round out the day higher as the market rallied on strong cash sales and is sitting in a comfortable position technically. August lean hogs closed $0.12 higher at $91.27, October lean hogs closed $0.67 higher at $76.40 and December lean hogs closed $0.35 higher at $68.95. It will be interesting to see what packers do in the rest of the week in regard to the cash market as they'll need to likely secure a few more sales, but if pork demand isn't as favorable as it has been recently, they may be virtually done buying after today's large sale for the week. Hog prices closed higher on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $8.97 with a weighted average price of $85.88 on 11,192 head. Pork cutouts total 385.19 loads with 338.09 loads of pork cuts and 47.10 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $1.97, $102.31. Tuesday's slaughter is estimated at 482,000 head -- 1,000 head more than a week ago and 10,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 8/2/2024: up $0.05, $93.59.
WEDNESDAY'S HOG CALL: Steady. Packers could still need to buy a few more hogs for the week, but it's likely that today was their big purchase and that they'll be less aggressive in the days to follow.
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