DTN Early Word Livestock Comments      09/10 06:24
   Traders Hope For Supportive Fundamentals Tuesday

   Cattle futures reversed the losses of Friday on Monday, uncovering buying
interest when contacts reached the lows. Profit-taking and technical buying
were triggered quickly, turning the market higher. Hog futures traded without
much fanfare with some continued spread trading due to continued market
uncertainty.

Robin Schmahl
DTN Contributing Analyst

   Cattle: Lower        Futures: Mixed       Live Equiv: $226.91 +$0.06*

   Hogs: Higher        Futures: Mixed       Lean Equiv: $101.83 -$0.38**

   *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:

   Traders did not have much fundamental information to trade on Monday, so the
focus turned to technical activity. When live cattle reached the previous low
of Aug. 21, profit-taking and technical buying were triggered, moving futures
quickly higher. The same can be said for feeder cattle as those contracts
reached the previous contract lows before aggressive buying was triggered. It
seems the activity Monday was technical and not fundamental. Cash cattle were
not traded with anticipation that cash would be no better than steady this
week. Packers were able to continue to purchase cattle for deferred delivery
last week, leaving them less aggressive again this week. Boxed beef prices were
mixed with choice down $0.89 and select up $2.37. Feeder cattle futures may run
out of steam and have difficulty moving higher as most of the short covering
has run its course.