GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is again trading lower into Tuesday's noon hour. At first it seemed as though the cattle contracts were going to try to trade their markets higher, but after seeing corn prices strengthen, that idea quickly went away. May corn is up 7 1/4 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is up $0.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 403.62 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex is still beating itself up as the spot April contract teeters with trading below the market's 40-day moving average. Seeing some days of weaker trade doesn't mean that the bull run is over -- even in 2014 there were days/weeks when the market traded lower. So often we as market participants seem to think that, when a bullish market takes off, there will be no days of weaker trade, but that simply is not the case. As traders continue to wait to see how cash cattle trade this week, they're once again taking a cautious approach. April live cattle are down $0.40 at $163.15, June live cattle are down $0.27 at $157.92 and August live cattle are down $0.47 at $157.65. The cash cattle market hasn't seen any business develop, and it's likely that we won't see trade until Thursday or Friday again this week. Asking prices are noted at $166-plus in the South but are still unestablished in the North.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.24 ($286.10) and select up $1.72 ($275.34) with a movement of 50 loads (31.65 loads of choice, 8.33 loads of select, 4.10 loads of trim ad 5.86 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle contracts started the day higher but as the corn market has gained strength, feeders are now taking a more distant, cautious approach to Tuesday's market. March feeders are down $0.70 at $190.12, April feeders are down $1.07 at $196.00 and May feeders are down $0.82 at $201.57. With negative pressures stemming from both the live cattle and corn markets, it's going to be a tough feat for feeders to turn higher ahead of Tuesday's close. However, later in the week, when cash cattle prices likely trade steady to somewhat higher, the feeder cattle market's morale could perk back up.
LEAN HOGS:
It's another down and dreary day for the lean hog complex as traders opt to keep the contracts trading steady to somewhat lower until they get a better understanding of whether or not strong demand is going to be a theme of the week. Monday afternoon hog cash prices and pork cutout values closed higher, which is quite the feat, but come Tuesday, the market hasn't seen near the fundamental support. April lean hogs are down $0.55 at $85.65, June lean hogs are down $0.30 at $102.30 and July lean hogs are down $0.35 at $104.50.
The projected lean hog index for March 13 is up $0.03 at $79.89, and the actual index for March 10 is up $0.24 at $79.86. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog report, down $0.36 with a weighted average of $74.62, ranging from $66.40 to $79.00 on 5,222 head and a five-day rolling average of $77.08. Pork cutouts total 198.65 loads with 188.24 loads of pork cuts and 10.41 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.08, $88.72.
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