GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex was aggressively supported by traders throughout the day as traders rushed into the commodity markets with a vengeance. Still no cash cattle trade has developed, but packer interest should improve by Thursday. December corn is up 3 1/2 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $7.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 39.55 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
It's on days like this that we'd like to say that the traders finally gave recognition to the market's fundamentals, but today's fundamentals had little to do with the board's surge. For whatever reason, traders aggressively jumped into the commodity markets and prices soared throughout most of the commodities. Some are speculating that it's because consumers could panic with the union strike at the ports and begin to stalk up on supplies. Today's aggressive surge helped push the spot December contract back to the price point at which in the market was trading before the mass equity sell-out early in August. Regardless of the rhyme or reason of the futures market's sporty performance throughout the day, feedlot managers are crossing their fingers as they hope that the board's aggressive manner persists through the week's end and that it will help advance the cash market later this week. Asking prices have been noted in the South at $187, but remain unestablished still in the North. October live cattle closed $2.95 higher at $187.42, December live cattle closed $2.52 higher at $187.70 and February live cattle closed $2.22 higher at $188.40.
Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 124,000 head -- 4,000 head more than a week ago and 2,000 head less than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $0.36 ($299.81) and select down $1.37 ($283.93) with a movement of 184 loads (123.49 loads of choice, 35.88 loads of select, 3.24 loads of trim and 20.91 loads of ground beef).
THURSDAY'S CATTLE CALL: $1.00 to $2.00 higher. Feedlot managers will likely capitalize on this week's bullish market as they aren't in a position in which they have to sell cattle. If prices aren't what they want, they can simply elect to roll this week's show list over to next week.
FEEDER CATTLE:
The live cattle complex charged higher, but feeders ran even harder throughout Wednesday's trade as all the contracts closed over $3.00 higher. October feeders closed $3.57 higher at $249.72, November feeders closed $3.87 higher at $248.55 and January feeders closed $3.62 higher at $242.07. The spot November contract closed just a little over a dollar lower than the market's 100-day moving average which would be a substantial technical resistance point for the market to take out if traders do indeed continue with their rally on Thursday and Friday. Demand in the countryside has been supportive, which could give traders even more encouragement to be bold through the later part of the week. At the Winder livestock auction in Dodge City, Kansas compared to last week feeder steers weighing 700 to 950 pounds sold $3.00 to $5.00 higher, with the biggest advancement on the nine-weight steers. Feeder heifers weighing 600 to 875 pounds sold $3.00 to $6.00 lower. And a lower trend was noted on steer and heifer calves as the vast majority of them were unweaned. Slaughter cows sold $2.00 to $4.00 higher and slaughter bulls traded steady. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 76%. The CME feeder cattle index 10/1/2024: down $0.09, $247.29.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex also saw tremendous trader interest as its market closed higher in its nearby contracts despite the fact that afternoon pork cutout values closed lower. October lean hogs closed $1.17 higher at $84.67, December lean hogs closed $2.15 higher at $76.75 and February lean hogs closed $1.57 higher at $80.15. Traders could be a little leery of supporting the hog complex on Thursday if pork demand isn't substantial -- in the form of export sales or domestic cutout values. The rib's $4.23 decline was the biggest reason why the carcass price fell lower, but the picnic and the ham both saw losses greater than $2.00. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $1.88 with a weighted average price of $75.91 on 3,995 head. Pork cutouts totaled 292.79 loads with 259.38 loads of pork cuts and 33.42 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $1.29, $95.02. Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 486,000 head -- steady with a week ago and 2,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 9/30/2024: up $0.12, $84.13.
THURSDAY'S HOG CALL: Lower. With Wednesday's cash hog market seeing little interest, it's likely that packers are mostly done with their cash purchases for the week.
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