DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 03/02 08:37

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 03/02 08:37 Late-Week Meat Futures Likely to Open With Mixed Prices Look for the cattle complex to open on a mixed basis thanks to residual selling on one hand and short-covering on the other. Lean hog futures should also see uneven price action in the early rounds, tied to follow-through selling and pre-weekend profit-taking. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst Cattle: Steady w/Wed Futures: Mixed Live Equiv $148.56 + .55* Hogs: Steady Futures: Mixed Lean Equiv $ 82.43 - .06** * 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 be very busy monitoring the cash cattle trade Friday. Besides a few clean-up deals here and there, most of the week's business has already come and gone. It will be interesting to see if April live moves somewhat closer to the cash market before calling it a week. Should April come into next week with a $3 discount or greater, feedlot managers could find it difficult to ask for and score more money. Live and feeder futures are likely to open on a mixed basis thanks to a slow combination of residual selling and late-week short-covering.