DTN Midday Livestock Comments 10/26 11:40

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 10/26 11:40 Live Cattle Contracts Hunger for More After rallying modestly Monday, the live cattle contracts have hit Tuesday's trade more ambitious than the day before. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Tuesday's trade has favored the cattle contracts and unfortunately left the hog contracts to plunder lower. The advancements seen throughout the cattle complex Monday were undoubtedly taken, but the market was somewhat disappointed that the bullish Cattle on Feed report, shared on Friday, didn't do more. If Tuesday's trade can keep with the pace that it's entering the afternoon with, the market may see the rest of the upward progression that some thought Monday lacked. December corn is up 7 3/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is up $1.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 68.94 points and NASDAQ is up 59.15 points. LIVE CATTLE The live cattle contracts quivered early Tuesday morning, seemingly unsure if the market would support another day of higher trade, but as the morning has progressed, the contracts have grown in strength and the December live cattle contract has managed to keep above the 40-day moving average of $129.12. December live cattle are up $0.52 at $130.05, February live cattle are up $0.52 at $135.27 and April live cattle are up $0.42 at $138.17. The recent uptick trend in the boxed beef market, along with the confidence that's prevailing throughout the futures market, may be the backing that the cash cattle market has needed to demand higher prices. Thus far, the market has yet to see any trade develop as packers haven't offered up any bids, and the only asking prices noted at this time are in the South at $126-plus. With last week's total negotiated cash cattle movement totaling 78,746 head, and of that 79% of the cattle being procured for the nearby delivery, this could indicate that packers' supplies are getting closer to the knife, and they may need to dip into the cash cattle market with more support than what's recently been seen. Bids could begin to develop Tuesday afternoon but it's more likely that they will develop midday Wednesday. Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $2.10 ($285.14) and select down $0.04 ($263.15) with a movement of 66 loads (23.32 loads of choice, 11.97 loads of select, 3.43 loads of trim and 27.74 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE The $0.08 rally in the nearby corn contracts has paused (but not fully done away with) the excited nature that originally developed in the feeder cattle contracts Tuesday morning. The market is currently maintaining a respectable $0.42 to $0.62 gain in the early 2022 contracts where feeder cattle supplies are anticipated to be thin. November feeder cattle are up $0.02 at $158.50, January feeders are up $0.52 at $159.12 and March feeders are up $0.62 at $160.27. If the live cattle market can maintain its current strength into the later part of the week and demand higher cash cattle prices, the feeder cattle market may be able to rally upon its momentum. LEAN HOGS The lean hog complex is continuing to bleed red figures as the market struggles to summon any substantial support. One may be quick to point out the midday pork cutout value is up $2.24 ($100.51), but more times than not, when we put too much faith in the midday figure, the market's afternoon pork cutout comes to haunt us. December lean hogs are down $1.27 at $72.92, February lean hogs are down $1.17 at $75.60 and April lean hogs are down $1.15 at $79.52. The projected lean hog index for Oct. 25 is down $0.32, at $82.66, and the actual index for Oct. 22 is down $0.72, at $82.98. Hog prices are lower on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.39 with a weighted average of $63.25, ranging from $62.00 to $66.00 on 5,350 head and a five-day rolling average of $64.59. Pork cutouts total 157.76 loads with 130.14 loads of pork cuts and 27.62 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $2.24, $100.51. ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com (c) Copyright 2021 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.