GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex closed mixed, with the cattle contracts disappointed still in the market's weak fundamentals, but the lean hog contracts found some trader support ahead of the day's close. Some light dressed cash cattle trade developed in the North at $345, which is $6.00 lower than last week's weighted average, and Southern live cattle traded at $224, which is $4.00 lower than last week's weighted average. December corn is down 7 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $8.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 47.03 points and the NASDAQ is up 131.38 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
It was a disappointing day for the live cattle complex as the market received none of the fundamental support it hoped for -- boxed beef prices closed lower, and of the light cash cattle trade that developed, weaker prices were the theme of the market. December live cattle closed $3.72 lower at $216.30, February live cattle closed $3.60 lower at $217.25 and April live cattle closed $3.52 at $217.80. Throughout the day, some light cash cattle trade was noted in the North, where dressed cattle traded at mostly $345, which is $6.00 lower than last week's weighted average. Southern live cattle traded at mostly $224, which is $4.00 lower than last week's weighted average. Asking prices in the South for cattle left to trade are at $230, but are still unestablished in the North.
Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 120,000 head, 2,000 head less than a week ago and 5,000 head less than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $0.72 ($371.23) and select down $1.40 ($353.55) with a movement of 179 loads (131.65 loads of choice, 32.46 loads of select, 7.16 loads of trim and 7.76 loads of ground beef).
THURSDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady with the week's trend. Given that cattle have now traded in both regions, it's likely that the week's prices are set.
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex continued to follow the direction of the live cattle market and drifted lower through the day's close. January feeders closed $4.60 lower at $321.45, March feeders closed $5.00 lower at $313.40 and April feeders closed $5.02 lower at $310.72. At R Livestock Connection in Monroe, Utah, compared to last week, feeder steers traded $3.00 to $7.00 higher and feeder heifers under 500 pounds traded $4.00 to $12.00 higher, while heifers weighing over 500 pounds sold $8.00 lower. Slaughter cows sold steady to $8.00 higher on a light offering. Slaughter bulls traded $5.00 lower on a light test. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 19%. The CME feeder cattle index 11/18/2025: up $0.56, $340.02.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex closed higher as traders seemed to have stumbled into some technical support. December lean hogs closed $0.95 higher at $78.85, February lean hogs closed $1.00 higher at $79.02 and April lean hogs closed $1.45 higher at $83.07. Today's higher close wasn't because of an increase in fundamental support, as both cash prices and pork cutout values closed lower. Like I said earlier, today's higher note came as traders happened to find some additional technical support.
Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $0.95 with a weighted average price of $74.61 on 1,428 head. Pork cutouts totaled 317.46 loads with 273.19 loads of pork cuts and 44.28 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $2.25, $93.14. Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 494,000 head, steady with last week and 6,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 11/17/2025: down $0.33, $86.67.
THURSDAY'S HOG CALL: Steady to somewhat higher. The cash market really hasn't seen much movement this week, and so either packers are planning on buying more aggressively on Thursday, or they're simply not planning on buying many hogs this week.
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