DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 12/28 06:13

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 12/28 06:13 Live, Feeder Futures Likely to Open Solidly Higher The cattle complex should open higher Monday morning as traders return from the Christmas holiday in a bullish frame of mind. Lean hog futures also seem set for a stronger opening thanks to follow-through buying interest and improving carcass value. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst Cattle: Cash Higher Futures 100-200 HR Live Equiv $133.04 + $1.59* Hogs: Cash Steady-$1 LR Futures 50-100 HR Lean Equiv $73.89 + .80** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Look for cattle feeders to launch the last trading week of 2015 by pricing showlists sharply higher, hoping that cash business will move to catch up with the blistering pace of the late-year board. Our guess is that feedlot managers will start out pricing ready steers and heifers around $132-plus on a live basis. Of course, little is expected to happen today save the distribution of new showlists. We assume the offering will be about steady with last week. Given limited trade volume totals generated last week, most packers would appear to be fairly close to the knife. CME officials announced on Thursday the posting of six new delivery intentions (all heifers at Dodge City). Live and feeder futures are staged to open significantly higher once again, supported by residual buying, technical bullishness, and strengthening cut-outs.