DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 04/03 06:01

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 04/03 06:01 Look for Meat Futures to Open Week With Mixed Price Action The cattle complex is expected to open Monday with mixed prices thanks to short-covering on one hand and beef demand worries on the other. Lean hog futures are likely to also begin with uneven action in the early going as traders continue to sort through the implication of the March 1 inventory. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst Cattle: Steady-$2 LR Futures: Mixed Live Equiv $144.15 - 1.43 * Hogs: Steady-$1 LR Futures: Mixed Lean Equiv $ 80.78 + .22 ** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Activity in cattle-feeding country Monday will be typically limited to the distribution of new showlists. We expect the new offering to be somewhat larger than last year based on late-year placement and smaller trade volume totals generated last week. On the other hand, there's reason to believe packers are starting out April relatively short bought. Gross processing margins have narrowed some but still reflect decent profit potential. Our guess is that initial asking prices will be around $130 plus in the South and $210 plus in the North. Live and feeder futures seem geared to open mixed linked to both short-covering and residual selling interest.