GENERAL COMMENTS:
All in all, it was another strong day for the livestock complex as all three of the livestock markets closed higher and are sitting in strong technical positions to trade higher on Tuesday. The cattle complex remains extremely sound fundamentally, but the lean hog complex needs to find more demand to help its market. May corn is up 10 1/4 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is up $6.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 100.71 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle market regained its technical strength through Monday's hours are traders again decided that turning to the market's fundamentals and recognizing their strong position carries merit. Packers were able to get some cattle bought with time last week, but with beef demand as strong as it is, feedlots should be able to push this week's cash cattle market higher yet again. On this upcoming Friday, the market will see another Cattle on Feed report shared, which is expected to be neutral/bullish in its nature. April live cattle are $1.00 higher at $175.75, June live cattle are $1.15 higher at $164.875, August live cattle are $1.08 higher at $163.775. Monday's slaughter is estimated at 125,000 head, 12,000 head more than a week ago and 13,000 head more than a year ago. New showlists appear to be mixed, higher in Texas, and Kansas, but lower in Nebraska/Colorado.
Last week, Northern dressed deals ranged from $283 to $290, but mostly at $290, which is $11.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average. Southern live cattle traded for $170 to $180, but mostly at $175, which is $5.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average. Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 86,778 head. Of that, 75% (64,996 head) were committed to the nearby delivery, while the remaining 25% (21,782 head) were committed to the deferred delivery.
Boxed beef prices closed mixed: choice up $3.36 ($305.98) and select up $5.45 ($289.32) with a movement of 94.77 loads (52.09 loads of choice, 15.28 loads of select, 8.19 loads of trim and 19.21 loads of ground beef).
TUESDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Higher. Cash cattle prices will likely be higher again this week as front-end supplies are incredibly thin.
FEEDER CATTLE:
The nearby corn contracts may have closed $0.06 to $0.10 higher, but the feeder cattle complex didn't seem to bat an eye over the corn market's chatter. The combination of a strong live cattle/cash cattle market amid excellent demand for both calves and feeders in the countryside has made for a near perfect feeder cattle market dream. Later this week, the market will see the latest Cattle on Feed report shared, and placements are again expected to be lighter, which could give the feeder cattle complex another bullish feather to put in its hat. April feeders closed $2.15 higher at $205.55, May feeders closed $2.85 higher at $210.75 and August feeders closed $1.40 higher at $225.35. The CME Feeder Cattle Index for April 13 was up $5.87, $205.64. At Oklahoma National Stockyard in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at their midsession point and when compared to last week, feeder steers are trading mostly steady and feeder heifers are trading steady to $3.00 higher. Steer calves are trading $3.00 to $8.00 higher and heifer calves are selling steady to $5.00 stronger. The spread between steer and heifer calves continues to narrow each week. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 57%. The CME Feeder Cattle Index for April 13: up $4.33, $205.64.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog contracts were able to carry their ambitious momentum through closing, seeming to give even more validation to Thursday's support plane. June lean hogs closed $1.30 higher at $88.17, July lean hogs closed $0.82 higher at $90.47 and August lean hogs closed $0.62 higher at $91.15. It was disappointing (though not surprising) to see pork cutout values close lower which was largely the ham's fault as it closed $10.22 lower. Both the ham and the belly continue to be incredibly problematic for the hog complex as both cuts remain volatile and more commonly than not swing the carcass price. Pork Cutouts totaled 295.46 loads with 248.54 loads of pork cuts and 46.92 loads of trim. Pork cutout values are down $0.64 at $77.61. Monday's slaughter is estimated at 462,000 head, 117,000 head more than a week ago and 106,000 head more than a year ago. Friday's hog slaughter was revised to 466,000 head. The CME Lean Hog Index for April 13: down $0.32, $71.63.
TUESDAY'S HOG CALL: Slightly higher. With slaughter speeds seeming to increase, packers could show the cash market more interest come Tuesday.
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