DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 12/18 05:52

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 12/18 05:52 Cattle Staged to Open Significantly Higher Live and feeder cattle futures seem geared to open significantly higher, supported by Friday's stronger cash market. Lean futures should also open on a firm basis, boosted by short-covering and spillover buying from the cattle complex. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst Cattle: Steady-$2 HR Futures: 100-200 HR Live Equiv $133.02 + .15* Hogs: Steady-$1 LR Futures: 25-50 HR Lean Equiv $ 82.85 + .27** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Activity in cattle country Monday will be typically limited to the distribution of new showlists. We believe that the pre-Christmas offering will probably be steady to somewhat larger than last week. The trade is starting out with a strong basis, which could make it tough for feedlot managers to hold for higher asking prices, unless the board keeps running higher. Given the long holiday weekend ahead, buyers and sellers would like to have cash business completed by Thursday. We'll see. Live and feeder futures should open significantly higher, supported by the recent bullish cash news.