DTN Midday Livestock Comments          12/24 11:31

   Livestock Complex Trades Mixed Ahead of Christmas

   The livestock contracts aren't doing much of anything as traders have mostly 
checked out of the marketplace early this week to enjoy the Christmas holiday.

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   It's a quiet marketplace today as most market participants have already 
closed their books and shut their computers to enjoy some Christmas cheer. The 
markets will be closing early today (1:05 pm EST) so DTN's closing market 
commentary will be available earlier today as well. March corn is up 1/4 cent 
per bushel and March soybean meal is up $3.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average 
is up 290.68 points.

   USDA is not updating its pages today (December 24) or on Christmas Day 
(December 25). The markets will also be closed on December 25, so regular DTN 
market commentary will resume on Thursday, December 26. Merry Christmas friends!

LIVE CATTLE:

   Although the market is trading in its typical, half-hearted Christmas Eve 
fashion as most traders have already checked out to enjoy the Christman 
festivities most of the live cattle contracts are trading higher. December live 
cattle are down $0.07 at $190.90, February live cattle are up $0.15 at $187.60 
and April live cattle are steady at $189.70. The market continues to dance 
around the 40-day moving average as that's been a threshold in which it's 
struggled to reconquer following last week's lower ascend. And while the 
contracts are trading slightly higher at Tuesday's noon hour, it's unlikely 
that there will be enough gusto back today's movement to take on that 
threshold. But if the cash cattle market is able to trade higher later this 
week, then it could be a possibility. Asking prices are noted in the South at 
$192 but are still not established in the North. There's a bid currently being 
offered in Kansas at $190, but it's unlikely that anything gets traded at that 
price and before the Christmas holiday.

FEEDER CATTLE:

   The feeder cattle complex is trading mostly lower as the market's momentum 
from Monday's higher close has puttered out. January feeders are down $0.17 at 
$256.42, March feeders are down $0.42 at $255.57 and April feeders are down 
$0.32 at $256.45. More than anything it's likely that the feeder cattle complex 
chops sideways until after the New Year when feeder cattle sales resume and 
prices could likely be higher in the countryside as buyers will be anxious to 
fill their new orders after the long holiday break.

LEAN HOGS:

   The lean hog complex is trading mostly lower as it too suffers from 
light-hearted interest from traders today. February lean hogs are up $0.25 at 
$84.62, April lean hogs are down $0.42 at $89.20 and June lean hogs are down 
$0.10 at $101.20. Following yesterday's mixed Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report, 
the lean hog complex could likely see little trader interest throughout the 
rest of the week as their big-ticket item for the week has already been 
unveiled and packers were fairly aggressive in Monday's cash market as they 
bought just over 6,000 head.

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




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