General Comments
The livestock complex is struggling to trade through Monday's Columbus holiday as traders seem to be sidelined, waiting for market indicators to surface later in the week and beam direction. Monday's trade is seeming more like a 'Monday without a sip of coffee' kind of day as contracts simply slip lower without discretion guiding the day's fall. December corn is down 6 3/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $9.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 285.41 points and NASDAQ is up 283.10 points.
LIVE CATTLE
Live cattle contracts are not faring well through Monday's dreary day. October live cattle are down $1.35 at $108.52, December live cattle are down $1.85 at $110.75 and February live cattle are down $1.25 at $113.05. Even with the cash cattle market being able to add $8.00 to the market over the last four weeks the futures complex trades lower, and in an abrupt manner. It's too early in the week for bids and asking prices to surface, but new showlists appear to be lower in the South and slightly higher in the North. This week's cash cattle trade could be higher yet again, but if the board is uncooperative trade could also be simply steady.
Last week's cash market successfully moved another 112,261 head. Of that 81,482 head are committed for delivery in the next two weeks while the remaining 30,779 head are for delivery in the following 15 to 30 days.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.15 ($215.21) and select up $1.70 ($201.52) with a movement of 64 loads (33.27 loads of choice, 10.62 loads of select, 11.74 loads of trim and 8.49 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE
As feeder cattle contracts fade lower, their only positive outlook for the day is that thankfully the corn market is regressing as well. Looking into this upcoming week, the feeder cattle market is going to be put to the test as the fall run is prepared to take off in full swing. October feeder cattle are down $0.65 at $137.60, November feeder cattle are down $0.30 at $135.27 and January feeders are down $0.70 at $133.30. As farmers have blown through harvesting, hopefully more farmer feeders will be able to step into the sale rings this week and help pick up some calves.
LEAN HOGS
The lean hog market is trading mostly sideways through Monday's trade as the market not only balances the lack of trader interest due to Monday's holiday, but also looming resistance levels. December lean hogs are down $0.67 at $66.45, February lean hogs are down $0.55 at $70.00 and April lean hogs are down $0.52 at $74.05. As the lean hog market has traded mostly higher over the last nine weeks, it comes as no surprise that long-term resistance is starting to roar and is consequently pressuring the market more and more.
The projected lean hog index for 10/8/2020 is up $0.09 at $77.71 and the actual index for 10/7/2020 is up $0.12 at $77.62. Hog prices are lower on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.77 with a weighted average of $63.82, ranging from $63.58 to $66.00 on 3,885 head and a five-day rolling average of $64.07. Pork cutouts total 158.22 loads with 138.49 loads of pork cuts and 19.73 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $2.68, $97.48.
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