DTN Early Word Livestock Comments      03/24 06:19
   Cattle Futures May Regain Friday's Losses

   Cattle futures moved to new highs early Friday only to succumb to selling
pressure resulting in significant losses. Selling surfaced as traders took
profits ahead of the Cattle on Feed report. Hog futures found buying interest,
which kept futures in the sideways trading range.

Robin Schmahl
DTN Contributing Analyst

   Cattle: Steady        Futures: Higher        Live Equiv: $237.12 -$1.23*

   Hogs: Lower          Futures: Mixed         Lean Equiv: $102.64 +0.97**

   *Based on the formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer
revenue. (The Live Cattle Equiv. The 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:

   The cattle complex moved to new highs early Friday and,  even though cash
cattle traded higher, traders decided to take profits ahead of the Cattle on
Feed report. That may not have been necessary as the report was bullish.
However, much of the bullishness of the report might have already been factored
in and now that the numbers are known, futures may settle back further. The
strong cash trade will provide sufficient support to move the market higher, no
matter the reaction to the report. Southern live cattle traded $7.00 higher at
$210. This should support the futures as the April contract holds a discount to
cash. Northern dressed cattle traded $10.00 higher, averaging $335. Boxed beef
prices were mixed, ranging from $2.61 lower to $0.26 higher. Feeder cattle
prices in the country continue to increase with continued strong demand. The
Commitments of Traders report showed fund traders as net buyers of 6,968
futures contracts in live cattle, bringing their long position to 118,029
contracts. They added 771 long positions to feeder cattle with a net-long
position of 29,538 contracts.