Monday Midday Livestock Market Summary - Traders Hold Contracts Steady Waiting for Demand

GENERAL COMMENTS:

The livestock complex is trading mixed into Monday's noon hour as traders sit tight, waiting to see what fundamental support arises this week. But unless something powerful happens in the cattle complex, it's unlikely that trades are going to trade the market above its 100-day moving average any time soon. March corn is down 2 1/2 cents per bushel and January soybean meal is up $1.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 127.50 points and the NASDAQ is down 92.92 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

Once again, backed up against the market's 100-day moving average, the live cattle complex is on pins and needles as it desires to trade higher, but traders aren't confident that the market possesses enough support to conquer its 100-day moving average. December live cattle are up $0.40 at $230.20, February live cattle are up $0.45 at $230.00 and April live cattle are up$0.05 at $229.45. It's unlikely that the fed cash cattle market will jump above that threshold early in the week, as traders will need to see strong developments in the market's fundamentals before they'll think about challenging that threshold.

Last week, Northern dressed cattle traded at mostly $353 to $355, which is $10.00 to $12.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average. Southern live cattle traded at mostly $230, which is $6.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average.

Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.20 ($358.64) and select up $2.49 ($346.71) with a movement of 71 loads (53.80 loads of choice, 4.39 loads of select, 4.93 loads of trim and 7.84 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

The feeder cattle complex has the same attitude this morning as the live cattle complex does, once again desiring to trade higher but not currently believing that the market has enough support to do so at the time being. January feeders are down $0.55 at $338.55, March feeders are down $0.17 at $333.90 and April feeders are down $0.30 at $332.57. The market will likely again closely follow the live cattle contracts and mimic its behavior this week.

LEAN HOGS:

Although pork cutout values are higher this morning, the lean hog complex is trailing lower into Monday's noon hour as traders seem to be cautious to advance the market much more, given that late last week the complex rallied aggressively. February lean hogs are down $0.87 at $83.65, April lean hogs are down $0.75 at $88.77 and June lean hogs are down $0.24 at $100.80. If pork cutout values remain high throughout the week, then there's a chance that later in the week the complex could turn higher, but in the meantime, it seems as though traders are just wanting to get a feel for the market's demand.

Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $2.07 with a weighted average price of $73.00, ranging from $71.50 to $74.00 on 1,331 head and a five-day rolling average of $71.84. Pork cutouts total 159.63 loads with 132.84 loads of pork cuts and 26.79 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $1.22, $99.43.