DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 08/16 06:10

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 08/16 06:10 Meat Futures Staged to Open Moderately Higher at Midweek Expect cattle complex futures to open moderately higher, supported by follow-through buying and short covering. Along similar lines, lean hog contracts should also extend Tuesday's rally in the early round. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst Cattle: Steady-$2 LR Futures: 50-100 HR Live Equiv $135.39 - 0.14* Hogs: Steady-$1 LR Futures: 50-100 HR Lean Equiv $ 99.38 - 0.26** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Look for cattle buyers to open with defensive bids this morning, clearly anticipating lower live inventory costs as we move into the last half of the third quarter. Needless to say, feedlot managers will be very reluctant to accept Southern live bids of $108-110 and Northern dressed bids of $175-177. Our guess is that sellers will begin with asking prices around $113-115 in the South and $180-182 in the North. FCE auction results will be available later this morning and we'll post them on the cash cattle page ASAP. Live and feeder futures should open moderately higher, supported by follow-through buying and short covering.