GENERAL COMMENTS:
The momentum that exploded throughout Wednesday's market in mainly the lean hog and live cattle markets is still present in the market again Thursday. The cash cattle market hasn't seen any cattle trade as packers and feedlots are in a tough stand off, and it's likely that trade waits to develop until Friday. March corn is up 1/2 cent per bushel and March soybean meal is down $5.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 630.35 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex is trading mixed into Thursday's afternoon with the market's nearby contracts trading slightly lower while the deferred market's cling to their higher trend. It was a big move for the live cattle market to break out Wednesday afternoon and surpass resistance in both the February and April contracts. Even though those market's may be trading mildly lower right now, the simple fact that they're still trading above the original resistance threshold points is quite commendable. The market will likely feel more confident about Wednesday's move once Friday's Cattle on Feed report is unveiled (as it's expected to be bullish) and once feedlots trade cattle, as they're expected to keep the market at least steady this week. The country has yet to see any bids develop from packers and it's looking like this week's showdown between packers and feedlots could last until Friday. Asking prices in the South are noted at $156 to $157, and $249 in the North. February live cattle are down $0.40 at $157.30, April live cattle are down $0.15 at $161.02 and June live cattle are up $0.02 at $157.00.
Beef net sales of 4,500 mt for 2022 were primarily for Japan (3,500 mt), South Korea (600 mt) and Mexico (500 mt).
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.88 ($266.74) and select up $3.91 ($240.20) with a movement of 52 loads (32.68 loads of choice, 12.07 loads of select, 3.65 loads of trim and 3.90 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex continues to trade higher despite the fact that the corn market is yet again trading higher too. At this point, traders seem to be valuing the move in the live cattle complex and the expectation that Friday's Cattle on Feed report will show both lighter on feed numbers and fewer placements as more of a deciding factor than the slight uptick in Thursday's corn market. January feeders are up $0.37 at $184.20, March feeders are up $0.67 at $186.40 and April feeders are up $0.52 at $189.87.
LEAN HOGS:
With Friday's Hogs and Pigs report expected to be extremely supportive to the lean hog market, the hog complex is keeping with Wednesday's strong tone as it pushes into the noon hour fully higher. February lean hogs are up $0.45 at $88.85, April lean hogs are up $0.47 at $95.72 and June lean hogs are up $0.30 at $108.72. It's likely that the market will keep this ambition tone well through Thursday's trade and likely into Friday's trade as well. With the supportive nature of Thursday's export report and the likelihood that Friday's big quarterly Hogs and Pigs report is favorable to the market, traders are looking past this week's mostly disappointing trade in both pork cutout values and cash prices.
Pork net sales of 58,700 mt for 2022 were primarily for Mexico (33,400 mt), Japan (9,900 mt) and Canada (4,600 mt).
The projected lean hog index for Dec. 11 is down $0.90 at $79.67 and the actual index for Dec. 20 is down $0.29 at $80.57. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog report, up $0.38 with a weighted average of $79.86, ranging from $77.00 to $80.00 on 2,119 head and a five-day rolling average of $79.98. Pork cutouts total 190.26 loads with 181.23 loads of pork cuts and 9.03 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $5.09, $87.54.
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