GENERAL COMMENTS:
Following Thursday's immense pressure, the livestock complex has again found support and stability in Friday's trade. No new cash cattle sales have been reported and it's looking like the bulk of this week's trend is essentially done with. March corn is down 8 1/4 cents per bushel and March soybean meal is down $5.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 320.96 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
It seems as though traders have again found some technical stability following Thursday's sharp correction. It's been a burdensome week full of heavy-hitting news headlines that have weighed heavily upon the complex. Between Monday's reaction to the tariff talks over the weekend, to APHIS's announcement that Mexican cattle imports were going to resume this week to Thursday's unraveling news that dairy cattle in Nevada had contracted a new strain of bird flu -- it's been a grim week for traders and the cattle complex to sort through. April live cattle are up $0.07 at $196.85, June live cattle are up $0.45 at $192.27 and August live cattle are up $0.55 at $189.27. No new trade has been reported in the cash cattle market, and it's looking like the bulk of this week's trade is done with. So far this week Southern live cattle have traded for $206 which is $2.00 lower than last week's weighted average and Northern dressed cattle have traded at mostly $328 which is $1.00 lower than last week's weighted average.
Boxed beef prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $1.72 ($322.26) and select down $0.24 ($314.53) with a movement of 134 loads (75.13 loads of choice, 8.77 loads of select, 35.70 loads of trim and 13.94 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
After seeming unable to catch its breath throughout Thursday's trade as the market gushed lower -- the feeder cattle complex has found some support in Friday's market and is trading mostly steady to somewhat higher. March feeders are steady at $265.30, April feeders are up $0.22 at $265.22 and May feeders are up $0.52 at $264.22. It's unsettling to see the spot March contract trading around the market's 40-day moving average, which will remain a threshold traders monitor closely because if the market drops far below that level, then more bearishness will likely consume the complex.
LEAN HOGS:
Seeming unconcerned about the market's resistance, the lean hog complex continues to rally into Friday's noon hour. February lean hogs are up $0.52 at $87.15, April lean hogs are up $0.62 at $92.37 and June lean hogs are up $0.50 at $104.35. It is extremely helpful that pork cutout values are up over $1.00 this morning as demand continues to be one of the biggest driving components for the market at this time.
The projected lean hog index for 2/6/2025 is up $0.34 at $85.39, and the actual index for 2/5/2025 is up $0.45 at $85.05. Hog prices on the Daily Direct Morning Hog report average $84.49, ranging from $81.00 to $88.00 on 1,526 head and a five-day rolling average of $85.64. Pork cutouts total 202.42 loads with 183.61 loads of pork cuts and 18.82 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $1.65, $97.29.
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