DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 04/30 05:50

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 04/30 05:50 Cattle Futures Expected to Open Substantially Higher Live and feeder contracts should open significantly higher Monday, supported by residual buying interest and seasonal strength in fundamentals. On the other hand, lean hog futures are likely to open no better than mixed, tied to a slow combination of follow-through selling and early-week short-covering. By John Harrington DTN Analyst Cattle: Steady-$2 HR Futures: 50-150 HR Live Equiv: $144.94 + .59* Hogs: Steady Futures: Mixed Lean Equiv: $ 73.58 + .84** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Cattle country should be staged for a typically quiet Monday with the distribution of new showlists about the only item on the agenda. Our guess is that the early May offering of fats will be steady to somewhat larger than last week. While bids and asking prices are likely to stay guarded for at least several more days, it's a good bet that feedlot managers will not hesitate to eventually price ready steers and heifers at least several dollars higher. Live and feeder futures seem likely to open significantly higher thanks to follow-through buying and aggressive packer spending on Friday.