DTN Midday Livestock Comments 10/23 12:00

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 10/23 12:00 Cattle Trade Remains Bearish At Midday Sharp triple-digit losses continue to hold through cattle and hog futures as traders brace for uncertainty in the afternoon release of the September cattle on feed report. The wide shifts in cattle futures through the week are creating some wide market swings as traders continue to square market positions in late-day trade. By Rick Kment DTN Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Cattle futures have continued to hold sharp losses through the entire morning as traders try to brace for the potential for increased market pressure. Back-and-forth moves may continue to be seen through the rest of the trading session with cattle traders looking toward the cattle on feed report at the end of the day. Corn prices are lower in light trade. December corn futures are 2 cents per bushel lower. Stock markets are higher in light trade. The Dow Jones is 101 points higher while Nasdaq is up 94 points. LIVE CATTLE: Live cattle futures remain under pressure at midday, although trade has backed away from session lows due to lack of trade volume at midday. Nearby contracts continue to hover around $2 per cwt lower, although the tone of the market remains weak, which could allow for losses of $1 to $2 per cwt to be carried into closing bell. There is very little buyer interest expected to develop before the end of the session, although traders are looking for additional activity surrounding both cash market interest and cattle on feed report information. Cash activity remains quiet Friday morning, although there are bids developing late morning in the North at $210 dressed bases, while the rest of the market remains relatively quiet at this point. It is expected that increased activity will continue to develop through the rest of the afternoon and likely be around or after the release of the cattle on feed report. Asking prices remain at $140 to $145 in the South and are undeveloped in the North. Beef cut-outs at midday are mixed, $1.02 higher (select) and down $0.43 per cwt (choice) with light movement of 64 total loads reported (46 loads of choice cuts, 11 loads of select cuts, no loads of trimmings, 7 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: Any bullishness seen in the complex Thursday afternoon during the flash of triple-digit pre-report gains, has been quickly dashed with aggressive losses moving well beyond $3 per cwt lower in November contracts through the morning. The lack of support is seen with November through August futures all holding $2 to $2.70 per cwt losses while lightly traded October contracts are remaining 90 cents lower at midday. There will be additional focus on the cattle on feed report and placement levels of feeder cattle through the month which will likely impact trade activity early next week. LEAN HOGS: Weakness has quickly developed through the entire livestock complex Friday morning, and even though the most aggressive losses have been seen in the cattle complex, lean hog trade have been heavily impacted by the late week selling. December lean hog futures have taken the brunt of the pressure, with contracts holding losses of $2.35 per cwt as sharp commercial pressure is flooding the market with traders quickly liquidating the complex as a break away from $68 per barrel levels are getting even more unreachable. Triple-digit losses are seen in most nearby and deferred futures, which continues to expand through midday. Cash prices are unreported due to confidentiality on the National Direct morning cash hog report. Cash prices are unreported due to confidentiality on the Iowa Minnesota Direct morning cash hog report. The National Pork Plant Report reported 148 loads selling with prices falling $1.59 per cwt. Lean hog index for 10/21 is at $74.27 down 0.05, with a projected two-day index of $74.12, down 0.15. Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@dtn.com (BAS) Copyright 2015 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.