DTN Midday Livestock Comments 11/22 11:43

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 11/22 11:43 Traders Push the Livestock Contracts Higher Into Midday Friday Bids of $187 live and $293 dressed have been noted in the cash cattle market, but no new sales have been reported at this time. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Later this afternoon the monthly Cattle on Feed report will be released which will be a big-ticket item for the cattle complex. A few new bids have been offered in the cash cattle market, but no sales have been reported at this point. December corn is steady and December soybean meal is steady. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 328.97 points. LIVE CATTLE: It's somewhat unusual to see traders this aggressive in the live cattle/feeder cattle markets ahead of the monthly unveiling of the Cattle on Feed report, but at this point in time, traders seem more interested in what the market is accomplishing throughout the futures complex and from a fundamental sense than they are worried about the COF data. We know that on-feed totals are expected to be steady to somewhat higher than a year ago and that placements are likely going to come in heavier as well -- but what will be interesting is whether or not traders react negatively to the report on Monday if that is indeed what the data shows. December live cattle are up $0.80 at $186.40, February live cattle are up $0.40 at $187.85 and April live cattle are up $0.40 at $189.92. A few more bids have been renewed this morning, but no sales have been reported at this point. Thus far this week Southern live cattle have been traded at mostly $186 which is $1.00 higher than last week's weighted average, Northern dressed sales have been marked at $290 which is fully steady with the previous week's weighted average. Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $1.44 ($308.23) and select down $0.49 ($272.43) with a movement of 52 loads (31.99 loads of choice, 15.35 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 4.94 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: This past week has been a rocking and rolling rallying week for the feeder cattle complex and traders haven't seized their ambitious drive whatsoever even though it's the last day of the week and later this afternoon the monthly Cattle on Feed report will be released. January feeders are up $1.10 at $254.55, March feeders are up $1.35 at $253.45 and April feeders are up $1.47 at $254.60. Some of traders' bullishness today could be somewhat sparked by the note of higher fed cash cattle prices that developed Thursday afternoon, and along with the continued support of tremendous demand for feeders and calves at sale barns across the country. LEAN HOGS: The lean hog complex is again rallying into the day's noon hour as traders continue to build upon the technical footing established earlier this week and like seeing the higher note in this morning's pork cutout report. It's nice to see steady price fluctuations through the pork cuts instead of seeing wild, dramatic swings in one or two of the cuts. December lean hogs are up $0.30 at $81.10, February lean hogs are up $0.55 at $85.20 and April lean hogs are up $0.55 at $89.47. The projected lean hog index for 11/21/2024 is down $0.43 at $87.01 and the actual index for 11/20/2024 is down $0.39 at $87.44. Hog prices on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report average $83.30, ranging from $81.00 to $86.00 on 1,080 head and a five-day rolling average of $83.63. Pork cutouts total 195.92 loads with 163.49 loads of pork cuts and 32.43 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.92, $93.99. ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com (c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.