DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 02/29 06:07

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 02/29 06:07 Cattle Futures Set for Solidly Higher Opening Look for live and feeder contracts to open significantly higher, supported by greater packer spending and early-week short-covering. Lean hog futures seem likely to begin with mixed prices thanks to follow-through selling and profit-taking. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst Cattle: Steady-$2 HR Futures: 50-100 HR Live Equiv $146.23 - $0.94* Hogs: Steady-$1 HR Futures: Mixed Lean Equiv $ 78.47 - $0.11** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Short-bought packers once again were forced to pay-up for fed cattle late last week, $137 live in the South ($3 higher) and $214 dressed in the North ($4 higher). Trade volume appeared to be generally moderate, but given the late hour, it will be interesting to see official totals collected by Livestock Mandatory Pricing later Monday. Activity Monday will be typically limited to the distribution of new showlists. We expect the offering to be steady to somewhat smaller than last week. Our guess is that initial asking prices will be around $140 to $142 in the South and $218 to $220 in the North. Live and feeder futures are geared to open solidly higher, supported by recent cash strength and technical buying.