DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 12/21 05:50

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 12/21 05:50 Meat Futures Staged for Mixed Opening as Traders Position Ahead of Late-Week Reports The cattle complex is expected to open mixed Thursday thanks to a combination of follow-through selling and pre-report short-covering. Along similar lines, lean hog contracts seem likely to begin with uneven price action with residual buying on one hand and long liquidation on the other. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst Cattle: Steady w/Wed Futures: Mixed Live Equiv $132.15 - 1.07* Hogs: Steady Futures: Mixed Lean Equiv $ 81.79 + .24** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Given the appearance of moderate trade volume in most corners of feedlot country Wednesday, there's a good chance that the lion's share of pre-Christmas trade is already completed. We'll be eager to check out Mandatory summaries later Thursday. At the very least, we could see some clean-up trade. Unsold cattle are still priced around $122 in the South and $193 in the North. Live and feeder futures should open on a mixed basis, tied to residual selling on one hand and short-covering on the other.