DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 12/07 06:54

DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 12/07 06:54 Traders Uncertain of Price Support Cattle futures completely fell apart Wednesday. Support remains elusive and any increase is now viewed as a selling opportunity. Hogs held well with prices mixed into the close. Lower cutouts may influence trade Thursday. Robin Schmahl DTN Contributing Analyst Cattle: Lower Futures: Higher Live Equiv: $210.51 -$1.38* Hogs: Lower Futures: Lower Lean Equiv: $ 90.65 -$1.47** *Based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue. (The Live Cattle Equiv. Index has been updated to depict recent changes in live cattle weights and grading percentages.) ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue. GENERAL COMMENTS: Cattle futures posted a large decline as the end of Wednesday's trading drew near. Bullish traders seem to just throw in the towel, resulting in live cattle futures moving to the lowest level since January with feeder cattle again falling to new contract lows. Buyers are being run over anytime they step in and bottom pick the market. A technically oversold market is meaningless in this environment. Not much help came from cash or boxed beef. Cash cattle continued to trade at $3 lower in the South and $4.00 lower in the North. The market now has a steeper discount to cash, which shows an unfriendly market sentiment. Boxed beef prices were mixed with choice down $3.19 while select gained $0.77.