GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is trending mixed into Friday's noon hour as traders are cautious heading into the weekend. The big news to watch for this afternoon is the USDA Cattle on Feed and Cattle Inventory reports. December corn is down 10 1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $1.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 76.75 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex is trading mixed with its nearby contracts trudging lower while the deferred contracts keep a mildly higher position ahead of the nearing noon hour. It's extremely supportive that the cash cattle market has continued to trade cattle at steady prices with Thursday's business. This week Northern trade is mostly being marked at $295, which is $3.50 higher than last week's weighted average, and Southern live cattle are trading mostly at $180, which is $2.00 higher than last week's weighted average. The slight hesitancy in the nearby contracts likely stems from the fact that later this afternoon two big USDA reports will be released -- the monthly Cattle on Feed and the biannual Cattle Inventory reports. Neither should come with any surprises and really both should continue to support cattle in their quest for steady to higher prices. August live cattle are down $0.30 at $180.02, October live cattle are down $0.75 at $182.00 and December live cattle are down $0.52 at $185.45.
Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $0.02 ($302.54) and select up $1.88 ($276.59) with a movement of 67 loads (36.41 loads of choice, 7.60 loads of select, 3.91 loads of trim and 19.01 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
Seeing corn prices lower again Friday is wind under feeders' sail as the market and cattlemen alike grow extremely tired of the back-and-forth nature of corn prices this time of year as largely, the corn market is heavily influenced by the weather. Needless to say, the current $0.08 to $0.09 regression in corn prices amid a cash cattle market that's trading $2.00 to $3.50 higher is enough good news for traders to keep the feeder cattle contracts on a higher trek. Later this afternoon, the market will see both a Cattle on Feed and Cattle Inventory report released, which both should support feeders as placements and total on feed numbers are expected to be lighter on the COF report, and the Cattle Inventory report will likely show a decreased calf crop for the year. August feeders are up $0.80 at $245.90, September feeders are up $1.00 at $249.30 and October feeders are up $1.12 at $250.95.
LEAN HOGS:
The corn complex's continued weakness amid higher pork cutout values is encouraging traders to keep pushing the contracts higher, but as traders look at the long-term resistance they're up against, mixed tones dominate the hog market at noon. August lean hogs are up $0.92 at $101.55, October lean hogs are down $0.27 at $84.45 and December lean hogs are down $0.12 at $77.12. It's unlikely that the market runs much higher ahead of Friday's close as completely taking out the resistance around $84.00 is a big step for the market as it trades at the highest point since late April.
The projected lean hog index for July 20 is up $0.44 at $104.04, and the actual index for July 19 is up $0.30 at $103.60. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $3.79 with a weighted average price of $99.32, ranging from $95.00 to $106.25 on 1,626 head and a five-day rolling average of $102.99. Pork cutouts total 117.80 loads with 99.31 loads of pork cuts and 18.48 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $3.29, $118.39.
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