GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is again rallying into Friday's noon hour as fundamental support has surfaced. So far Southern live cattle are selling for $191 which is $1.00 to $2.00 higher than last week's weighted average, and bids have been renewed in Nebraska following Thursday's light trade, but no more dressed sales have been reported. March corn is up 5 1/2 cents per bushel and January soybean meal is down $3.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 54.66 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The combination of higher cash cattle trade mixed with stronger boxed beef prices was just the right mix of added confidence that the market needed to trade higher. December live cattle are up $0.50 at $187.47, February live cattle are up $0.27 at $186.60 and April live cattle are up $0.27 at $188.82. Although it took a while to develop, feedlot managers have again been rewarded with their patience in the marketplace as Southern live cattle traded for $191 which is $1.00 to $2.00 higher than last week's weighted average, and some feedlot managers are still committed to not trading any cattle until their initial asking price of $192 is met. On Thursday afternoon some light dressed trade developed at $297 in Nebraska which is $2.00 higher than last week's weighted average. More trade will likely develop throughout the afternoon as this week's movement has been limited.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $4.08 ($311.92) and select up $0.56 ($277.66) with a movement of 89 loads (58.87 loads of choice, 10.20 loads of select, 7.78 loads of trim and 12.13 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex is again back to trading higher as the market has been relieved to see the added support of this week's cash cattle trade. Traders have seen plenty of support from feeder cattle sales in the countryside as prices continue to grind higher, but they wanted to see some support from the fed cattle market as they feared that they could be getting ahead of themselves in the market's bullish push. January feeders are up $1.50 at $256.42, March feeders are up $2.35 at $254.95 and April feeders are up $1.35 at $255.97.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex is also rallying into Friday's noon hour as the market is pleased to see higher pork cutout values. February lean hogs are up $0.95 at $87.30, April lean hogs are up $0.55 at $91.70 and June lean hogs are up $0.22 at $101.85. The vast majority of the cutout values strength this morning did come from the belly's $7.17 jump, but the butt also rallied $4.22 and the loin jumped $3.53.
The projected lean hog index 12/5/2024 is down $0.20 at $83.73, and the actual index for 12/4/2024 is down $0.15 at $83.93. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. However, we can see that only 344 head have traded and that the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $87.84. Pork cutouts totaled 220.80 loads with 207.16 loads of pork cuts and 13.64 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $3.05, $91.69.
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