DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 12/19 05:50

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 12/19 05:50 Lean Hog Paper Set to Open Moderately Lower Look for hog futures to open moderately lower checked by struggling carcass value, the discount of the cash index, and long liquidation prior to the release of hog and pig news on Friday. The cattle complex is likely to trade mixed prices in the opening rounds with nearbys holding up better than deferreds. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst Cattle: Steady-$2 HR Futures: Mixed Live Equiv $133.94 + .92* Hogs: Steady-$1 LR Futures: 50-100 LR Lean Equiv $ 82.85 -1.71** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: We don't expect to see many signs of life in the cash cattle market Tuesday with bids and asking prices remaining poorly defined. While it sounds like the pre-holiday fed offering is generally smaller than last week, the same may be said about packer appetite. Our guess is that packer inquiry will start to improve on Wednesday, with significant trade volume delayed until at least Thursday. Live and feeder futures are likely to open on a mixed basis as traders position ahead of cash news and the Dec. 1 Cattle on Feed report set to be released Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. (CST).