DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 01/25 06:08

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 01/25 06:08 Meat Futures Staged for Solid Opening The cattle complex should open with decent progress, supported by greater packer spending and follow-through board buying. Lean hog contracts are likely to begin with moderate strength thanks to improving supply and demand considerations. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst Cattle: Steady Futures: 50-150 HR Live Equiv $151.03 - $1.84* Hogs: $1 HR Futures: 50-100 HR Lean Equiv $ 79.36 + $1.26** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Feedlot patience really paid off late Friday, especially in the South. Short-bought packers were forced to meet steady/firm asking prices, resulting in $134 to $135 sales in Kansas and Texas, $133 to 134 deals in parts of Nebraska. If there was a trade-off, it might have been in terms of volume. Our guess is that final trade volume totals were no better than light to moderate. This could mean that new showlists to be distributed Monday will be generally larger. On the other hand, most packers should remain short-bought (and still relatively well margined). With eyes sharply focused on futures, feedlot managers will likely be slow in pricing ready steers and heifers (though initial ideas will be higher, to be sure). Live and feeder futures seem set to open higher, supported by cash premiums and follow-through buying.