DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 11/11 06:44

DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 11/11 06:44 Higher Cattle Prices Set for the Week Cash cattle traded higher but that had little impact on futures Wednesday. The trade seemed to have the gains already factored in, leaving little reason to increase futures. Hogs again defied the weakness of cash and cutouts. The optimism was likely due to traders catching wind of the possibility of increasing chain speed. Robin Schmahl DTN Contributing Analyst Cattle: Higher Futures: Mixed Live Equiv: $213.92 -1.96* Hogs: Lower Futures: Mixed Lean Equiv: $ 97.53 -1.98** *Based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue. (The Live Cattle Equiv. Index has been updated to depict recent changes in live cattle weights and grading percentages.) ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Live cattle futures just could not uncover aggressive buying despite higher cash. Traders had that already factored in and were not interested in adding much extra premium. Volatility was confined to about a $1.00 swing similar to Tuesday's activity. Traders seem content to hold the line in keeping futures in line with cash. Cash cattle in the South exceeded the minimum of what feedlots wanted to see, trading $3.00 higher with trade in the North averaging $4.00 higher. Packers clearly need the cattle to maintain slaughter volume, giving feedlots the upper hand. Boxed beef prices were substantially weaker with choice down $2.28 and select down $4.00. This may limit packers paying any more than they already have. Support in feeder cattle was elusive with futures posting triple-digit losses.