GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex suffered Friday. Live
cattle and feeder cattle contracts traded on the lower end of Thursday's
loss, while lean hog contracts dropped significantly lower. Hog prices
are higher on the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $0.02 with a
weighted average of $50.50. March corn is down 5 cents per bushel and
March soybean meal is down $4.40. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is
down 221.26 points and NASDAQ is down 60.62 points.
From Friday to Friday, livestock futures scored
the following changes: February live cattle up $1.23, April live cattle
down $2.10; January feeder cattle down $2.20, March feeder cattle down
$2.13; February lean hogs down $2.03, April lean hogs down $2.72.
LIVE CATTLE:
Upon two weeks of shortened holiday trade,
packers had no option but to pay up and buy cattle for higher prices
this week. Cattle in the South were bought $2.00 higher than last week's
weighted average, at $124, and cattle in the North were bought at $199,
$4.00 higher than last week's weighted average. It's a good week for
feeders when prices are bumped up $1.00 to $2.00, but it's a damn good
week when feeders can push prices $3.00 to $4.00 higher. The live cattle
board was weak and suffered from lack of support and traders being gone
for a long week, all contracts traded lower. February live cattle
closed $1.05 lower at $124.72, April lean hogs close $0.80 lower at
$125.67 and June live cattle closed $1.02 lower at $117.67.
Boxed beef pries closed higher: choice up $0.24
($208.49) and select up $2.76 ($205.39) with a movement of 127 loads
(85.75 loads of choice, 20.07 loads of select, 11.29 loads of trim and
9.76 loads of ground beef). Friday's slaughter is estimated at 122,000
head and Saturday's slaughter is projected to be around 84,000 head.
MONDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady. It's unlikely
to think that fat cattle will trade early in the week, but once cattle
do trade, steady money isn't out of the question. Yes, packers do have
cattle committed for the next two upcoming weeks, but as production
continues to surge on, and readily available fed cattle supplies are
tight, packers will have to shop a little harder than their used to as
we enter first quarter supplies.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Feeder cattle closed the day lower as well,
taking the biggest losses in nearby contracts, though deferred contracts
didn't fair much better. January feeders close $1.30 lower at $143.35,
March feeders closed $1.05 lower at $142.67 and April feeders closed
$0.97 lower at $145.52. It will be nice to have a normal schedule next
week where sale barns are open as usual; there's a full week of stock
trade and traders are back on board ready to act. The CME feeder cattle
index 1/2/19: $144.87, up $1.27.
LEAN HOGS:
Lean hog contracts suffered the biggest losses
Friday. With lack of overall support and interested traders, time passed
by and prices fell lower and lower. February lean hogs closed $3.00
lower at $68.55, April lean hogs closed $2.85 lower at $75.15 and May
lean hogs closed $2.97 lower at $81.40. Pork cutouts totaled 322.59
loads with 291.28 loads of pork cuts and 31.32 loads of trim. Friday's
slaughter is estimated at 493,000 head, and Saturday's slaughter is
projected to be around 414,000 head. The CME lean hog index 12/31/19:
down $0.20, $57.73.
MONDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Next week will be
refreshing as traders are back to the marketplace and the cash market is
ready for fruitful trade. With the signing of the phase one trade
agreement on the horizon, hopefulness will most likely encompass the
lean hog sector.
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