Look for live and feeder contracts to open significantly higher Monday, spurred by follow-through support and greater packer spending late Friday. On the other hand, hog issues could open no better than mixed thanks to residual buying interest and struggling carcass value.
Cattle: Steady-$2 HR Futures: 100-200 HR Live Equiv $129.92 – .06*
Hogs: $1-2 LR Futures: Mixed Lean Equiv $ 83.03 -1.45**
* based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue
** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue
GENERAL COMMENTS:
Friday’s cash cattle market was late in fully developing, but most sellers who were patient enough finally got cattle buyers to cough up a buck more this week (i.e., $106 live in most areas). We’ll be eager to see Mandatory summaries later Monday since the late hour made it tough to judge volume.
At this time, our guess is that moderate movement generally developed across the entire feeding area. Activity Monday will typically be limited to the distribution of new showlists. Ready numbers should be about steady with last week. Look for cattle futures to open significantly higher, boosted by follow-through buying and stronger feedlot sales.
