GENERAL COMMENTS:
Cattle futures have grabbed trader attention and are thankfully trading fully higher into Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, the lean hog futures have been met with some opposition as the futures once again rose to all-time high positions in some of the nearby contracts. May corn is down 1/4 cent per bushel and May soybean meal is down $4.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 173.60 points and NASDAQ is down 129.51 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Live cattle futures have caught the interest of traders Friday morning and are entering into the afternoon fully higher. April live cattle are up $0.67 at $119.20, June live cattle are up $1.07 at $120.77 and August live cattle are up $1.07 at $119.72. Even though traders are willing to support the complex Friday morning, the futures still desperately need to see encouragement in the cash cattle market. The countryside is quiet Friday morning with only one bid being renewed at $178 in Nebraska. For the most part its looking like the bulk of this week's trade is done with; only a little clean-up trade could develop before the day's end.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $0.35 ($227.02) and select up $1.38 ($221.45) with a movement of 55 loads (24.95 loads of choice, 8.05 loads of select, 11.52 loads of trim and 10.21 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
As corn prices continue to drop lower heading into Friday afternoon, feeder cattle futures have a window of opportunity as traders are willing to invest and they are taking the day by stride. March feeders are up $1.10 at $136.35, April feeders are up $1.87 at $143.15 and May feeders are up $1.75 at $148.15. Unfortunately, the environment surrounding the feeder cattle market hasn't grown notably stronger as feeder cattle futures desperately need the cash cattle market to gain strength and rally prices higher.
LEAN HOGS:
Lean hog futures have fought vigorously to keep the market stable and have tried to avoid trading lower at all costs this past week. The market is faced with some pushback through Friday's trade as the spot April, June, July and August contracts (to name a few) have once again moved to contract-high levels. April lean hogs are down $0.20 at $91.30, June lean hogs are up $0.02 at $99.15 and July lean hogs are up $0.02 t $99.47. With slaughter speeds seeing a slight reduction and packers not as aggressively diving into the cash market, one would think the rally may be nearing its top.
The projected CME Lean Hog index for 3/11/2021 is up $0.75 at $88.40 and the actual index for 3/10/2021 is up $0.89 at $87.65. Hog prices are lower on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, down $1.83 with a weighted average of $83.01, ranging from $79.00 to $87.50 on 5,290 head and a five-day rolling average of $83.57. Pork cutouts total 151.19 loads with 133.77 loads of pork cuts and 17.42 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: unchanged, $99.69.
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