DTN Midday Livestock Comments          07/21 11:45

   Mixed Tones Take Over Livestock Complex Tuesday 

   No cash cattle trade has developed yet and both bids and asking prices 
remain elusive at this point. 

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The livestock contracts are trading mixed into Tuesday's noon hour. The 
cattle contracts would love to trade fully higher but continue to look for 
increased fundamental support. The lean hog contracts are trading fully higher 
as technical and fundamental support are both alive and well in the 
marketplace. December corn is up 1 1/2 cents per bushel and December soybean 
meal is up $3.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 494.48 points and 
NASDAQ is up 332.17 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   The live cattle contracts are mixed heading into Tuesday's noon hour as the 
nearby contracts are hesitant, but the deferred contracts are again being 
fueled by trader support and the hope that market fundamentals may improve 
later this week. No cash cattle trade has developed yet and both bids and 
asking prices remain elusive at this point. It is assumed since packers were 
able to gain leverage in the market over the last couple of weeks, cash prices 
will be steady at absolute best this week when trade does develop. August live 
cattle are down $0.07 at $226.45, October live cattle are down $0.35 at $222.95 
and December live cattle are down $0.20 at $222.80.

   Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $1.02 ($369.08) and select up $0.55 
($356.00) with a movement of 89 loads (54.10 loads of choice, 8.74 loads of 
select, 12.51 loads of trim and 13.80 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   To no one's surprise, with the live cattle complex trading mixed, so is the 
feeder cattle complex heading into Tuesday's noon hour. August feeders are down 
$2.72 at $349.27, September feeders are down $1.42 at $344.82 and October 
feeders are down $0.50 at $339.32. The market has plenty of room to trade 
higher before it will run into resistance pressure at the 40-day and 100-day 
moving averages.

LEAN HOGS:

   The lean hog complex is continuing to trade higher into Tuesday's noon hour 
as the market is pleasantly surprised by the $2.00 jump in pork cutouts and 
will always gladly take the extra support. August lean hogs are up 0.42 at 
$101.70, October lean hogs are up $0.62 at $88.35 and December lean hogs are up 
$0.45 at $79.52. The market's next resistance threshold is at $92.50 in the 
spot October contract. The projected CME Lean Hog Index is delayed from the 
source. Hog prices average $98.13 on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, 
ranging from $94.00 to $100.00 on 411 head and a five-day rolling average of 
$100.46. Pork cutouts total 156.90 loads with 131.13 loads of pork cuts and 
25.78 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $2.00, $105.10.

    

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




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