DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 05/23 05:56

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 05/23 05:56 Cattle Futures Staged for Lower Opening Live and feeder futures are likely to open the week on the defensive, pressured by follow-through selling and negative Cattle on Feed news. Look for lean hog futures to begin trading with mixed price action tied to residual selling on one hand and ideas of improving seasonal fundamentals on the other. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst Cattle: Steady-$2 LR Futures: 50-100 LR Live Equiv $148.87 -1.20* Hogs: Steady Futures: Mixed Lean Equiv $ 88.67 + .39** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Action in feedlot country Monday will be typically slow as buyers and sellers focus on little more than the distribution of new showlists. The late-month offering is likely to be generally larger than last week thanks to both unsold steers and heifers carried over from last week and a seasonally growing supply of ready cattle. Our guess is that initial asking prices will be around $132 plus in the South and $208 to $210 in the North. Live and feeder futures seem ready to open under pressure thanks to confirmation of larger than expected April placement, eroding carcass value, and the odds of slowing beef demand immediately before the Memorial Day holiday.