Pork Futures: Hogs Slide
CHICAGO - Excluding the July Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog contract that finished up slightly on cash strength before expiring at 1pm EDT, other months closed lower Monday on August/October, August/December and December/February bull spreads. That slowed August declines but weighed more on December and February. Pork bellies closed mixed.
17 July 2007
2 minute read
Live cattle settled mostly weak while feeders ended sharply higher.
Most lean hog contracts stumbled soon after the opening bell on Chicago Board of Trade corn's triple-digit losses in overnight trading.
Far-month hogs also bowed to bearish notions that China's retaliatory move to bar some US meat imports, including pork, might affect future US pork shipments to that country.
Fund selling and sell stops exacerbated earlier August and October lean hog losses. However, short covering lifted both contracts from morning lows. What's more, subsequent August/October bull spreads briefly landed August in positive territory.
Spot July was guided by cash hog prices, the contract's over-sold Relative Strength Index conditions and speculation about where July would settle Monday. However, August, the new lead month, came into Monday's trade already over-bought and at a significant bearish premium to CME's hog index.
Country hog buyers and floor traders anticipate no worse than steady cash hog prices for Tuesday as processors book supplies for the rest of the week. Also,talk of warmer temperatures in the Midwest this week, and much-improved calculated packer profit margins continue to motivate bullish August players.
