DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 07/31 05:24

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 07/31 05:24 Hog Futures Likely to Open Lower Tuesday as Fundamentals Stay Stubbornly Bearish Lean hog contracts are staged to open at least moderately lower, checked by lower country sales and struggling wholesale pork prices. Look for the cattle complex to begin with mixed prices tied to a combination of short-covering and long liquidation. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst Cattle: Steady Futures: Mixed Live Equiv: $136.29 - .27* Hogs: $1-2 LR Futures: 50-100 LR Lean Equiv: $ 79.59 -2.43** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Market watchers will probably not be stressed Tuesday documenting the limited activity of the cash cattle trade. We expect neither bids nor asking prices to be well defined. Meaningful definition in that regard will likely not surface until Wednesday at the earliest. Given smaller trade volume totals generated last week, we believe cattle buyers are generally short bought, but it's tough to translate that into how business will be timed in the days ahead. Look for live and feeder futures to open on a firm basis thanks to a slow combination of short-covering and long liquidation.