Triple-digit losses swamped the cattle complex thanks to aggressive long liquidation and technical selling. Lean hog futures settle no worse than mixed with deferreds generally outperforming nearbys.
GENERAL COMMENTS:
Feedlot country was typically quiet to start the week as buyers and sellers focused primarily on the distribution of showlists. The new offering appears to be generally smaller. We could not find any suggestions of asking prices with both sides confused by the sharp sell-off in futures. According to the closing report, the national hog base is .12 lower compared with the Prior Day settlement ($43.00-47.52, weighted average $46.23).
The corn market corn closed 3 cents plus higher, supported by signs of decent demand (e.g., a decent pace of both exports and ethanol production). Stocks closed higher as investors digested a rise in oil prices. The Dow closed 88 points higher with the Nasdaq better by 36.
