DTN Closing Livestock Comment 12/09 15:18
   Live Cattle Self-Correct with Triple-Digit Gains

   With the upcoming holiday meat features taking shape, packers' shifting
demand has influenced their bids for hogs and cattle. The futures charts,
however, have less confident direction and explored wide price ranges through
the week.

Elaine Kub
Contributing Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS

   Gains in the live cattle futures market Friday look impressive on a one-day
basis but were mostly just a correction of previous losses. Feeder cattle and
lean hog futures posted milder performances. In the cash cattle market, light
trade was reported in parts of the South at $155 to $156, which was $1 to $2
higher than the rest of the week's business and fully steady to $1 higher than
last week's weighted averages. Northern dressed business has been marked at
mostly $247, which was $2 lower than last week's weighted averages. The
National Direct Afternoon Hog Report showed purchased swine prices up $1.96 to
a weighted average of $83.07 on 10,209 head. Prices ranged from $74 to $85, and
the five-day rolling average is now $83.41. December corn moved up 2 3/4 cents
to $6.34 3/4 per bushel and January soybean meal closed up $5.20 per ton to
$471.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 305.22 points and the NASDAQ
was down 74.17 points.