DTN Midday Livestock Comments          02/27 11:15

   Cattle Futures Markets Tumble Friday

   Aggressive triple-digit losses flooded the cattle futures Friday morning 
following outside market pressure and building fundamental pressure.

Rick Kment
DTN Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   Sharp losses in feeder cattle futures are leading the entire live cattle 
market lower. Initial market weakness seen Thursday across the cattle market 
led to additional concerns in both live cattle and feeder cattle futures. The 
overall lack of buyer support seems to be focused not only on outside market 
moves, but technical and fundamental pressure in both live cattle and feeder 
cattle markets seems to be building through the end of the week, leaving room 
for additional end-of-month weakness as traders look to close the books on 
February. May corn is up 3 at $4.465 and May soybean meal is down $2.00 at 
$318.9. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 579.61 at 48,919.59.

LIVE CATTLE:

   Live cattle futures have posted active pressure across all futures 
contracts, with spot month February contracts trading $2 per cwt lower, while 
other nearby contracts are trading $3 to $3.60 per cwt lower. Continued strong 
pressure in outside markets is adding additional pressure to the entire live 
cattle complex. Cash cattle markets are starting to improve with light trade 
reported in parts of Kansas at $244, $5 lower than last week's weighted 
averages. A few live deals are also being reported in parts of Nebraska. Some 
bids are now on the table in Texas, but so far, they are being passed. Packer 
inquiries will continue to improve as the day progresses. February live cattle 
are $2.00 lower at $244.00, April live cattle are $4.30 lower at $232.60 and 
June live cattle are $4.10 lower at $229.30. Boxed beef prices are Higher: 
choice up $1.08 ($378.97) and select up $3.44 ($374.23) with a movement of 
48.35 loads (38.87 loads of choice, 2.46 loads of select, no loads of trim and 
7.02 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   Feeder cattle futures are leading the market lower Friday morning as buyer 
support seemed to crack during the Thursday trading session. The overall lack 
of buying interest stepping into the market during initial trade Friday in 
outside markets seemed to leave even more pressure flooding into the complex. 
Spot month contracts are holding the best at this point with prices over $5 per 
cwt lower at midday, while other nearby contracts are holding $7 to $7.50 per 
cwt losses as traders have not only focusing on outside market pressure, but 
also a lack of market stability through the entire beef complex at the end of 
the month. March feeders are $6.28 lower at $355.37, April feeders are $7.78 
lower at $350.975 and May feeders are $8.53 lower at $346.775.

LEAN HOGS:

   Lean hog futures once again are the quiet and more stable livestock market 
of the complex, with prices mixed within a very narrow trading range despite 
the aggressive selling pressure flooding into both the cattle trade and outside 
financial markets. April futures continue to trade higher through the morning 
and heading into midday, with a 30-cent gain developing. The rest of the 
complex remains slightly under pressure with losses of 5 to 15 cents per cwt 
holding in most nearby contracts. The overall lack of direction in both pork 
market technical trade as well as stability in market fundamental direction 
through late February seems to be a welcome relief compared to the market 
pressure across other markets. April lean hogs are $0.35 higher at $96.075, May 
lean hogs are $0.05 lower at $100.3 and June lean hogs closed steady. Hog 
Prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog report, down $0.88 with a 
weighted average of $90.97, ranging from $86.50 to $91.00 on 2,438 head with a 
five-day rolling average of $91.03. Pork Cutouts totaled 178.30 loads with 
163.99 loads of pork cuts and 14.31 loads of trim. Pork cutout values are down 
$1.19 at $97.55.

   ShayLe Stewart can be reached at shayle.stewart@dtn.com




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