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Cattle futures firm on Friday while lean hogs come under pressure. More of the same to start the week?
Live Cattle (December)
December live cattle futures attempted to stage a rally on Friday but fell flat. The strong move higher early in the session likely came on the back of a moonshot in feeder cattle. The inability to maintain those gains is a bit of a caution flag in the near term. A break and close below Friday’s low could spark pressure down to our next support pocket, 180.00-180.50.
Resistance: 186.60-187.675***, 189.47-190.075****
Pivot: 184.55-185.20
Support: 182.50-182.82***, 180.00-180.50***
Daily Cattle and Beef Summary
Cutout values were sharply lower Friday afternoon with choice cuts .46 lower to 303.34 and select cuts .52 lower to 276.14. The five-area average price for live steers on Friday as 184.74. Friday’s slaughter was reported at 120k head, unchanged from the same day last year but 4k less than last week.
Seasonal Tendency Update
Below is a look at historical price averages for February futures on a 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 year time frames (Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results). The chart appears to show that the first half of November is a tough time for the market to stage a meaningful rally, but the back half can be more favorable. Whether or not that rings true this year is TBD.

Commitment of Traders Update
Friday’s Commitment of Traders report showed funds were net buyers of about 5.6k futures and options contracts. This extended they weekly buying streak to 8 weeks. Funds are now net long 107,043 contracts. That registers as the largest net long position since July of 2023.

Volatility Update
CME CVOL for live cattle has moved higher over the last week but is still at the lower end of the year’s range.
Feeder Cattle (January)
January feeder cattle futures broke out above resistance at 245.55 which spurred a swift move higher, back near the September highs. With the index moving higher and November futures set to expire this week, that likely spurred the convergence.
Resistance: 245.55*, 246.82-247.60***, 249.85-250.80****
Pivot: 243.00-243.95
Support: 239.62-240.15***, 237.50-237.95****
Seasonal Tendency Update
Below is a look at historical price averages for January futures on a 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 year time frames (Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results). Looking at this chart, it looks like November can be a pretty choppy and indecisive month for price trends.

Commitment of Traders Report
Friday’s Commitment of Traders report showed Funds were net buyers of about 2.4k contracts, which puts Funds net long 10,130 contracts, the largest net long since topping out in March.

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