DTN Midday Livestock Comments          11/11 12:20

   Slow Veteran's Day Trade 

   Given that most of the trading arena is gone for the day, it's been a pretty 
quiet Monday. 

By ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

General Comments

   Live cattle and feeder cattle futures are mostly higher, while the lean hog 
futures sticks to its typical strategy of lower Monday trade. Given that it's a 
holiday for much of the nation's workforce, a dismal Monday trade isn't out of 
the ordinary. December corn is down 2 1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean 
meal is down $3.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 14.52 points and 
NASDAQ is down 20.48 points. 

   LIVE CATTLE 

   Live cattle prices are toying with the idea of trading higher Monday 
morning. Deferred contracts are being more easily convinced than nearby 
contracts. December live cattle futures are down $0.20 at $119.05, February 
live cattle futures are down $0.07 at $124.95 and April live cattle futures are 
up $0.35 at $126.45. The board's biggest spread lies between the April and June 
contract -- a $7.88 difference. Given that fat cattle prices seasonally peak 
and fall all within that two-month window, it makes trading the two a touchy 
card. Cash cattle trade for the week is yet to start. Last week in the 
five-area feeding region, cash cattle prices gained $3.72. New showlists appear 
to be mixed, higher in Texas, somewhat higher in Kansas, but somewhat lower in 
Nebraska. Midday boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $0.55 ($238.57) and 
select is down $0.06 ($213.20) with a light movement of 43 loads (21.17 loads 
of choice, 10.49 loads of select, 5.86 loads of trim and 4.99 loads of ground 
beef).    

   FEEDER CATTLE 

   Feeder cattle futures wasted no time shelling out more money on Monday as 
all contracts are higher. November feeder cattle futures are up $0.30 at 
$147.30, January feeder cattle futures are up nearly a dollar, up $0.92 at 
$146.80 and March feeders are up $0.80 at $146.30. With colder temperatures 
across much of cattle country, feedlots with newly delivered calves are going 
to be watching for sickness and praying that phenomena doesn't start to set in 
with warm days and shivering nights.  

   LEAN HOGS 

   Lean hog markets trade their historic pattern of lower on Monday despite 
cattle contracts stirring up some support. December lean hogs are down $0.80 at 
$63.32, February lean hogs are down $0.65 at $73.25 and April lean hogs are 
down $0.62 at $79.70. The projected lean hog index for 11/07/19 is up $0.10 at 
$60.29, and the actual lean hog index for 11/06/19 is up $0.03 at $60.19. Hog 
prices are lower on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.11 with a 
weighted average of $42.80, ranging from $41.00 to $44.50 on 3,015 head sold 
and a five-day rolling average of $45.44. Pork cutouts totaled 109.35 loads 
with 97.21 loads of pork cuts and 12.14 loads of trim. Pork cutouts values are 
up $0.73 at $83.40.  

   ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com 


(AG)

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