Wednesday Midday Livestock Market Summary - Without Enough Fundamental Support, Cattle Contracts Fall Lower

GENERAL COMMENTS:

The cattle contracts are trading lower into Wednesday's noon hour as the market is disgruntled with the lack of fundamental support. Some light trade has developed in the North, where dressed cattle are trading at $345, which is $6.00 lower than last week's weighted average. December corn is down 6 1/2 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $6.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 158.50 points and the NASDAQ is down 43.11 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

Without a steadfast stamp of approval from the market's fundamentals, the live cattle contracts are back to trading lower. The market would anticipate that beef demand will begin a sharp fourth-quarter rally in the next week or two, as consumers secure their meat for the Christmas holiday. Still, with beef prices already high compared to years past, the market sits in an unknown position, unsure how much of a fourth-quarter rally is really going to play out. December live cattle are down $5.27 at $214.75, February live cattle are down $4.95 at $215.90 and April live cattle are down $4.47 at $216.85. And making matters even worse is the fact that some light cash cattle trade has begun to develop. Some light dressed cattle trade has developed in the North at $345, which is $6.00 lower than last week's weighted average. No trade has developed in the South yet, but bids are currently on the table at $224, and asking prices are firm at $230.

Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $0.31 ($372.26) and select down $1.89 ($353.06) with a movement of 116 loads (81.70 loads of choice, 23.15 loads of select, 4.79 loads of trim and 6.66 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

The feeder cattle complex is also trading sharply lower as the market continues to closely follow the direction of the live cattle contracts. January feeders are down $5.95 at $320.30, March feeders are down $6.17 at $312.22 and April feeders are down $6.22 at $309.52. And until something changes the direction of the live cattle complex, the feeder cattle market will likely trade lower.

LEAN HOGS:

Although midday pork cutout values are lower, once again, the lean hog contracts are trading slightly higher into Wednesday's noon hour as the market has seemed to stumble into some technical support. December lean hogs are up $0.87 at $78.77, February lean hogs are up $1.20 at $79.22 and April lean hogs are up $1.62 at $83.25. It will be interesting to see if the market is able to maintain this momentum through the day's close, as neither cash prices nor pork cutout values are higher, which makes this move solely a technical push.

The projected lean hog index is delayed from the source. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. However, we can see that only a measly 88 head have traded this morning and that the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $76.55. Pork cutouts totaled 187.76 loads with 165.75 loads of pork cuts and 22.01 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $1.22, $94.17.