DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 05/17 06:26

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 05/17 06:26 Meat Futures Staged for Uneven Prices on Opening The cattle complex should open on a mixed basis thanks to a combo of residual selling and short covering. Lean hog issues are set to also begin with uneven price action tied to light bull speading and profit takings. By John Harrington DTN Analyst Cattle: Stdy-wk w/Wed Futures:mixed Live Equiv: $149.62 - 0.54* Hogs: Steady-$1 HR Futures: mixed Lean Equiv $ 79.47 + 0.15** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Another round of light to moderate trade volume surfaced at midweek as some feedlot manager moved to find the best bids available. Business may be done for the week in some areas, but generally speaking the North looks as if it needs to move more steers and heifers. Asking prices on the balance of showlists are around $118-120 in the South and $185-plus in the North. Live and feeder futures are geared to open on a mixed basis thanks to follow-through selling on one hand and short covering on the other.