DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 01/14 05:57

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 01/14 05:57 Meat Futures Geared to Open With Moderate Strength The cattle complex seems set to open moderately higher, supported by follow-through buying and steady/firm cash bids in feedlot country. Lean hog futures should also begin with a firm tone thanks to stronger cash sales and ideas of improving fundamentals. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst Cattle: Steady-$2 HR Futures: 10-30 HR Live Equiv $157.32 + .35* Hogs: Steady-$1 HR Futures: 10-30 HR Lean Equiv $ 74.72 + .17** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Cash cattle traders may find it necessary to turn up the heat Thursday and/or Friday in order to secure short-term slaughter needs. Look for opening bids of $133 in the South and $210 in the North, well below asking prices of $136 to $138 live and $212 to $214 dressed. It would appear that several packers are quite short bought. Nevertheless, significant trade volume could be postponed until sometime Friday. Live and feeder contracts are staged to open moderately higher, girded by spillover buying and firm cash expectations.