GENERAL COMMENTS:
Cattle contracts are simply watching the day's minutes tick by as everyone is anxious for the long weekend. But the lean hog contracts are rallying amid exceptional demand. It wouldn't have been unlikely to see the lean hog contracts trade like the cattle contracts are as usually that's how the complex goes about business before a holiday. But with prices as high as they are and with money to be made, hog enthusiasts aren't letting any idle time pass them by. July corn is down 2 1/4 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is up $4.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 130.86 points and NASDAQ is up 74.70 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Live cattle futures are trading mostly higher, other than in a couple of nearby contracts. With the cash cattle market neglecting to draw any attention and demand support, the nearby contracts are teetering as traders know that a top in boxed beef prices is coming. June live cattle are steady at $116.35, August live cattle are down $0.27 at $119.15 and October live cattle are up $0.07 at $124.25. The countryside is quiet as packers have already done most of their buying and if anything does develop trade-wise throughout the afternoon, it will be clean-up in nature. This week trade has Southern live deals marked at $116 to $120, mostly $119 to $120, steady to $1 higher than last week's weighted averages. Northern dressed deals have a range of $187 to $192, mostly $191, generally steady with last week's weighted average basis Nebraska.
Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $0.06 ($330.04) and select down $2.00 ($302.10) with a movement of 48 loads (29.92 loads of choice, 6.64 loads of select, 5.17 loads of trim and 6.63 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
After Thursday's gigantic rally in the corn market, the corn contracts have opted to trade lower throughout Friday. Thankfully this is allowing the feeder cattle contracts to trade mildly higher. August feeders are up $0.12 at $152.97, September feeders are up $0.25 at $155.07 and October feeders are up $0.37 at $156.62. With the May contract having expired Thursday afternoon and the market's new spot being August, cow-calf producers are praying that the cash market does more rallying to meet the $150 threshold rather than seeing the futures market regress as the summer's run of early feeder cattle sales is right around the corner.
LEAN HOGS:
Tight supplies and strong demand can make a market just like exuberant supplies with minimal demand can break a market -- thankfully the hog market is on the better end of the deal this time around. June lean hogs are up $1.50 at $117.20, July lean hogs are up $2.60 at $119.32 and August lean hogs are up $2.37 at $116.20. Even with the market's phenomenal demand, I'm surprised to see traders as willing to invest in the complex before the holiday weekend as most of the time they leave the contracts to trade lackadaisically before the holiday and deal with business when they get back. The sharp regression in the cash market isn't that surprising as Canadian hogs are still working their way into the U.S. market and making it easier for packers to find needed supplies.
The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 5/27/2021 is up $0.36 at $113.44 and the actual index for 5/26/2021 is up $0.58 at $113.08. Hog prices are lower on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, down $3.48 with a weighted average of $103.19 ranging from $99.84 to $112.00 on 3,570 head and a five-day rolling average of $104.87. Pork cutouts total 212.02 loads with 183.29 loads of pork cuts and 28.72 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $2.21, $128.58.
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