GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is trading mostly lower as the cattle contracts back away from an aggressive approach because of the slight uptick in corn prices. The lean hog complex is still trying to make sense of Thursday's Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report. It's likely this afternoon's trade is mundane as traders look forward to the 4th of July -- God Bless America! December corn is down 10 1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is up $14.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 205.84 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex traded higher Friday morning, but as the noon hour approaches, the complex is lower as traders note the slight uptick in corn prices. August live cattle are down $0.40 at $174.12, October live cattle are down $0.75 at $176.92 and December live cattle are down $0.57 at $181.10. The cash cattle market saw bids renewed in Texas at $179 and in Nebraska at $286, right at the day's get-go. But at this point no feedlot manager seems too worried about marketing any more cattle at the week's last hour. Packers will probably be more aggressive in next week's market and could even end up paying $1.00 or $2.00 more. So far this week Southern live cattle have traded for $178, which is $1.00 to $2.00 lower than last week's weighted average, and Northern live cattle have traded for $182, which is also $1.00 to $2.00 lower than last week's weighted average. Hardly any dressed cattle have traded in the North this week, but of the few that have, dressed sales have been marked at $290, which is steady with last week's weighted average.
Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $0.16 ($327.89) and select down $1.64 ($295.54) with a movement of 74 loads (46.07 loads of choice, 10.28 loads of select, 9.53 loads of trim and 7.94 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
After rallying nearly all week, the feeder cattle market's upward swing has been stalemated by Friday's jump in corn prices. Thursday's rainstorm came as a mixed blessing as some parts of the storm's path received some desperately needed moisture, but other parts were plagued by severe wind and hail damage. The nearby corn contracts are rallying anywhere from $0.02 to $0.06 higher which is why feeders are treading backwards this morning despite the fact demand is still good for feeders across the nation. August feeders are down $1.50 at $240.87, September feeders are down $1.17 at $244.62 and October feeders are down $1.07 at $246.75.
LEAN HOGS:
Now that the market has had some time to chew over Thursday's Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report, traders are a little too mind-boggled with the report's findings and are sending the contracts lower into Friday's noon hour. The report oddly stated the U.S. breeding herd had grown from last quarter, which seems nearly impossible as producers faced incredibly strenuous financial conditions and continue to plan for the implementation of Prop 12 later this year. Nevertheless, the contracts (both nearby and deferred) are trading lower but only modestly so. Some packers obviously needed to get a few more hogs bought ahead of the long weekend as cash prices jumped over $4.00 this morning. July lean hogs are up $0.10 at $95.55, August lean hogs are down $0.42 at $91.97 and October lean hogs are down $1.00 at $78.35.
The projected CME Lean Hog Index is delayed from the source. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $4.40 with a weighted average price of $91.29, ranging from $85.00 to $94.00 on 1,664 head and a five-day rolling average of $91.80. Pork cutouts total 147.56 loads with 137.60 loads of pork cuts and 9.97 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $1.75, $104.65.
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