DTN Midday Livestock Comments 11/11 12:20

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 11/11 12:20 Slow Veteran's Day Trade Given that most of the trading arena is gone for the day, it's been a pretty quiet Monday. By ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst General Comments Live cattle and feeder cattle futures are mostly higher, while the lean hog futures sticks to its typical strategy of lower Monday trade. Given that it's a holiday for much of the nation's workforce, a dismal Monday trade isn't out of the ordinary. December corn is down 2 1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $3.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 14.52 points and NASDAQ is down 20.48 points. LIVE CATTLE Live cattle prices are toying with the idea of trading higher Monday morning. Deferred contracts are being more easily convinced than nearby contracts. December live cattle futures are down $0.20 at $119.05, February live cattle futures are down $0.07 at $124.95 and April live cattle futures are up $0.35 at $126.45. The board's biggest spread lies between the April and June contract -- a $7.88 difference. Given that fat cattle prices seasonally peak and fall all within that two-month window, it makes trading the two a touchy card. Cash cattle trade for the week is yet to start. Last week in the five-area feeding region, cash cattle prices gained $3.72. New showlists appear to be mixed, higher in Texas, somewhat higher in Kansas, but somewhat lower in Nebraska. Midday boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $0.55 ($238.57) and select is down $0.06 ($213.20) with a light movement of 43 loads (21.17 loads of choice, 10.49 loads of select, 5.86 loads of trim and 4.99 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE Feeder cattle futures wasted no time shelling out more money on Monday as all contracts are higher. November feeder cattle futures are up $0.30 at $147.30, January feeder cattle futures are up nearly a dollar, up $0.92 at $146.80 and March feeders are up $0.80 at $146.30. With colder temperatures across much of cattle country, feedlots with newly delivered calves are going to be watching for sickness and praying that phenomena doesn't start to set in with warm days and shivering nights. LEAN HOGS Lean hog markets trade their historic pattern of lower on Monday despite cattle contracts stirring up some support. December lean hogs are down $0.80 at $63.32, February lean hogs are down $0.65 at $73.25 and April lean hogs are down $0.62 at $79.70. The projected lean hog index for 11/07/19 is up $0.10 at $60.29, and the actual lean hog index for 11/06/19 is up $0.03 at $60.19. Hog prices are lower on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.11 with a weighted average of $42.80, ranging from $41.00 to $44.50 on 3,015 head sold and a five-day rolling average of $45.44. Pork cutouts totaled 109.35 loads with 97.21 loads of pork cuts and 12.14 loads of trim. Pork cutouts values are up $0.73 at $83.40. ShayLe Stewart can be reached [email protected] (AG) Copyright 2019 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.